Posted on 11/22/2023 5:24:03 AM PST by logi_cal869
An Air Force AC-130 gunship destroyed a truck on Tuesday in Western Iraq after the aircraft’s crew watched Iranian-backed militia fighters use the vehicle to launch a ballistic missile attack on U.S. troops, injuring eight Americans, defense officials said.
“Immediately following the attack, a U.S. military AC-130 aircraft in the area conducted a self-defense strike against an Iranian-backed militia vehicle and a number of Iranian-backed militia personnel involved in this attack,” according to U.S. Central Command, or CENTCOM. “This self-defense strike resulted in several enemy casualties.”
The AC-130 was airborne at the time of the attack on Al Asad Air Base and the airmen aboard were able to determine the launch point of a “close-range ballistic missile” that struck the base, Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said on Tuesday.
“They were able to take action because they saw the militants,” Sigh told reporters during a Pentagon news conference. “They were able to keep an eye on the movement of these militants as they moved into their vehicles. That’s why they were able to respond.”
- snip -
In an unusual twist, the AC-130 appeared to be flying with its transponder turned on, allowing flight tracking website like FlightRadar24 to follow its precise path during the mission.
- snip -
U.S. military planes also fly with transponders while on routine flights, but routinely turn them off in warzones and during other sensitive flights.
Singh was unable to say why the AC-130 had its transponder turned on during the strike, allowing flight trackers to follow the aircraft’s movements in real time.
- snip -
But unlike the three airstrikes in Syria that the United States has launched in recent weeks, the AC-130 strike was a direct response to an attack against American forces, Singh told reporters.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
Pick it apart if you see fit; not all details would fit in the excerpt.
There is only fact that matters............. the offending truck was obliterated in seconds by what was probably a two second burst from a 30 mm gatling gun
Those gunships are rather vulnerable. Iran just might have the stuff to take one down.
Wouldn’t computers on board and satellite technology pinpoint where the shots are coming from? Take em’ out from a further distance.
Well, no. You didn’t even read the excerpt to grasp the simple contraction of the title within (among others). For example:
1. Did they watch the launch, or track the origin?
2. If these Iran proxies are getting ‘al-Aqsa1’ quality missiles, why is the US military not taking offensive action?
3. Are 1 & 2 due to ROE, lack of intel, intel failure or a fundamental failure (i.e., ‘policy’?) of DOD to function effectively other than as making US forces targets?
I don’t pose #3 rhetorically.
“In an unusual twist, the AC-130 appeared to be flying with its transponder turned on”
Sounds like more DEI (or women’s lib) in the cockpit.
AND the punchline:
Why didn’t the 2-second burst come as they were watching the missile PREPARE to launch???
Singh is the DoD Deputy Press Secretary. Contributing to the story was Behnam Ben Taleblu of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundation_for_Defense_of_Democracies
It certainly is interesting that their transponder was turned on.
I’m sure we we sent multiple carrier groups to the region for Hamas…
McCain’s corpse is getting excited.
AC-130Js do more than knock off a few soldiers/terrorists and the odd truck. Especially since the plane attacked 2 separate unrelated targets.
Better explanations found here:
AC-130 Ghostrider Gunship Strikes Iranian-Backed Militia In Iraq
This marks the fourth U.S. airstrike against Iranian-backed militias since Oct. 26 and the first on a target in Iraq.
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/ac-130-ghostrider-gunship-strikes-iranian-backed-militia-in-iraq
and here at 1.40 - 3.10 mark:
Wanted Pro-Iranian Commander Found in His Jeep! Israel Struck at Last Moment Large Arms Convoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_ORsOFIx6M
Those gunships are rather vulnerable. Iran just might have the stuff to take one down.
—
Assuming someone can see them from 10 miles away and 3 miles high. Russia would have to give the Iranians several dozen S400 systems with 20 linked tells each to cover the territory the proxies operate in.
Right now Russia is hurting for S400s ($20 billion each) and most are around Moscow at the moment.
Vulnerable? Think not. They have more then just a cannon and a howitzer, by the way. Not to mention their fighter escorts ...
more than one truck and more then 6 terrorists were jellied in the 2 separate attacks.
‘On’ so their fighter escorts could see them.
$20 billion for one set of missiles (How many?) & launcher system each? Seems a bit steep for a Russian system.
Thanks for the opportunity.
This scenario takes me back to 1968 over Laos in a C-123K and it’s truck killing night mission. I was at NKP, Spectre was South at Ubon, RTAB with somewhat the same mission only more crewmembers, much more expensive aircraft at a lower altitude and thus more susceptible to anti-aircraft fire.
To pit the nations air power against a ten thousand dollar truck is gross misuse of finite resources. There has to be a better way of striking the enemy without squandering an extremely valuable resource. Not to mention advertising your presence to any convienient radar.
As I recall, there was at least one Spectre gunship that was destroyed and another so heavily damaged by anti-aircraft guns it would never fly again while cruising “the trail” in search of enemy activity. A heavy price to pay for the small disruption the nightly activity had on the passage of men and equipment from North Vietnam to South Vietnam.
...and here we are in a much higher threat environment doing much the same as fifty plus years ago. Show of force is one thing, sending millions of dollars of equipment, and highly trained aircrew after one truck smacks of (fill in the blank).
The only fact that matters:
Destroyed AFTER the launch that injured 8 Americans, not BEFORE the launch.
I mainly notice the fact that it was too late.
The ROE are clearly stupid.
Agree
Moar bombing in the middle east!
For the full set: tells, radar systems, command post etc. The UA has taken out 4 of these in Crimea, as far as we know.
So everyone could see them.
Exactly. Hence my “2. If these Iran proxies are getting ‘al-Aqsa1’ quality missiles, why is the US military not taking offensive action?”
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