LANRIRN Targeting pod. Still working after all these years.
Posted on 06/15/2006 4:54:41 PM PDT by SandRat
BAGHDAD, June 15, 2006 – The attack that killed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi demonstrates the flexibility that air assets give commanders, officials here said today. Air Force Brig. Gen. Stephen Hoog, an air planner with Multinational Force Iraq, gave a timeline of the operation that resulted in the death of the most wanted terrorist in Iraq June 7.
An F-16 Fighting Falcon jet dropped two precision bombs on a safe house near Baqubah, killing Zarqawi and his spiritual adviser.
Nothing indicated this day would be different from any other for Air Force pilots over the country, Hoog said. A flight of two F-16s were conducting surveillance and to detect improvised explosive devices buried in or along highways in Iraq.
The two aircraft topped off fuel from a KC-10 air-to-air tanker and controllers redirected the aircraft to support coalition operations northeast of Baghdad, Hoog said. "Soon after 6 p.m., the flight passed the location of a safe house where Zarqawi was hiding," he said.
At 6:11 p.m., one F-16 dropped one bomb on the house and scored a direct hit. Minutes later, the jet dropped another bomb on the same house and again scored another direct hit, the general said.
The F-16 did not rely on people on the ground pointing a laser at the house. Rather, the aircraft "lased" the target from the air.
The raid was successful, ending the life and career of the wanted terrorist in rubble.
The aircraft were the only coalition assets that could act on the intelligence quickly, officials said. In fact, while the bombs dropped at 6:11, the first coalition soldiers did not arrive at the site until 6:40, and that was an 11-man military training team embedded with a near-by Iraqi Army unit.
Officials speaking on background said it was the prudent thing to do to spare American lives. Rumors in Baghdad said that Zarqawi always wore a suicide vest, ready to pull the trigger if confronted by coalition soldiers.
"In fact, we did not know the state of the defenses in that house," said the official. "It would have unnecessarily put Americans at risk to send them in when you have the aerial option like that."
Adding to the decision, officials said was the fact that the house was isolated and chances of collateral damage was minimal. "We could still have done it in a city, but it would have been a much more involved decision," the official said.
The F-16s continued to fly cover over the site until relieved. It wasn't until the next day, Hoog said, that the pilot learned who was the target.
The general emphasized that the attack was a team effort. Persistent surveillance over the battlefield comes from unmanned aerial vehicles such as the Global Hawk and Predator. Hoog said satellite surveillance also helped in pinpointing the precise global positioning system coordinates for dropping the second bomb.
HIT 'EM AGAIN,
HIT 'EM AGAIN,
HARDER!
HARDER!
It does the heart good to keep reading about the offing of one of history's great monsters and nihilists. Good job guys!
LANRIRN Targeting pod. Still working after all these years.
"Hoog said, that the pilot learned who was the target."
Has anyone heard his reaction at the news? Any words from him/her yet?
Who made the decision for a second bomb?
BTW, none of my comments are important. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. Rest is BS.
Yea verily!!!
Not yet - however I offer you this tidbit in the meantime ... ":^)
For the Record
This Air Force press release provides only bare-bones information about last week's strike that took out Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, so let me fill in a few operational details.
For the record, the F-16 that took out the terrorist lead is a Block 30 jet, assigned to the Alabama Air National Guard's 187th Fighter Wing, normally based at the Montgomery Regional Airport. The Block 30 is one of the tried-and-true variants of the Viper, best known as the first F-16 with a General Electric engine. Block 30 jets have one of the best thrust-to-weight ratios of any of the F-16 variants, since the GE powerplant produces 5,000 pounds more thrust that comparable Pratt and Whitney models. Most of the Block 30s rolled off the General Dynamics assembly line in the late 80s, but will remain in service with the ANG for years to come.
While the jet that dropped those 500-lb bombs came from the Alabama Guard, the pilot in the cockpit on the Zarqawi mission was a member of the Wisconsin ANG's 115th Fighter Wing, located in that liberal mecca, Madison, Wisconsin. A rather delicious irony, wouldn't you say? I wonder if the Madison City Council or University of Wisconsin faculty senate will pass a resolution condemning the "use" of state ANG personnel in "George Bush's illegal war."
Personally, I'm hoping the jet's crew chief paints a little picture of Zarqawi beneath the canopy, in commeration of the F-16's "victory" over the terrorist mastermind.
http://formerspook.blogspot.com/
LANRIRN = LANTIRN
Thank you for your comments. Irony. I love it.
Funny. The poor guy won't get a lot of respect in Madison, but the rest of the country is damn proud!
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