HAIDER
ELITE MEMBER
- Joined
- May 21, 2006
- Messages
- 33,771
- Reaction score
- 14
- Country
- Location
Last night, Bill Roggios Long War Journal blog gave us a rare inside look into an American air strike inside Pakistani territory to take out an insurgent target. LWJ embedded reporter Phil Peterson was inside Bagram Air Bases Joint Operation Center's operation cell, known as the Bridge on March 12 to witness a strike that destroyed a Haqqani Network safe house in Pakistan.
Intelligence for the strike came from ground units in the field, informants in dangerous Afghan backwaters, the high-resolution video footage beamed in from one of the US military's most high-tech unmanned aerial vehicles, Warrior Alpha or Predator. American military personnel monitoring the Kill TV: full-motion video projected on to a projection screen confirmed the target, and did what they could to ensure that no women or children were present before ordering the strike.
Due to its location inside Pakistan, the proposal was sent up the chain of command to US Central Command and ISAF (International Security Assistance Force). After discussing the latest intelligence reports, rechecking and confirming their accuracy, the commanding general ordered the strike.
The post doesnt disclose any important technological aspects of the Bridge but its an interesting look into the nuts and bolts of these increasingly common strikes, and how UAVs, satellite imaging and human intelligence are being combined to reach across borders and strike small groups of insurgents.
Credit: The Long War Journal
Intelligence for the strike came from ground units in the field, informants in dangerous Afghan backwaters, the high-resolution video footage beamed in from one of the US military's most high-tech unmanned aerial vehicles, Warrior Alpha or Predator. American military personnel monitoring the Kill TV: full-motion video projected on to a projection screen confirmed the target, and did what they could to ensure that no women or children were present before ordering the strike.
Due to its location inside Pakistan, the proposal was sent up the chain of command to US Central Command and ISAF (International Security Assistance Force). After discussing the latest intelligence reports, rechecking and confirming their accuracy, the commanding general ordered the strike.
The post doesnt disclose any important technological aspects of the Bridge but its an interesting look into the nuts and bolts of these increasingly common strikes, and how UAVs, satellite imaging and human intelligence are being combined to reach across borders and strike small groups of insurgents.
Credit: The Long War Journal
