Layers of Aircraft Stack Fullujah Skies

Houma Courier ^ | November 11, 2004 | JIM KRANE

[NCjim]

The skies over Fallujah are so crowded with U.S. military aircraft that they are layered in stacks above the city, from low-flying helicopters and swooping attack jets to a jet-powered unmanned spy drone that flies above 60,000 feet.

Much of the focus has been on the massive U.S. ground assault to reclaim the insurgent stronghold, but the complex air war is an indication of the effort and equipment the United States has invested in winning the battle for Fallujah.

No fewer than 20 types of aircraft have been thrown into the fight, including 10 fixed-wing planes, three types of helicopters and seven kinds of unmanned drones.

"We call it the wedding cake. It's layered all the way up," said Air Force Lt. Col. David Staven, who leads the ground targeting effort on a U.S. base outside Fallujah.

Much of the air war is being directed by 10 teams of ground controllers, who moved into the city with Army and Marine fighters. The controllers call down bombing raids or rocket attacks on insurgent positions in the city, said Staven, who leads the 9th Expeditionary Air Support Operations Squadron.

"You take out the threat from the air so you don't have to get soldiers into the building to clear it on foot," said Staven. "It's better to take the enemy out from a distance than to go face to face with him."

American warplanes relentlessly pounded Fallujah over the past three days, pouring cannon fire, rockets and bombs onto the city, sometimes just blocks ahead of advancing U.S. troops.

A pair of AC-130 gunships fired their entire arsenal of ammunition on Fallujah during Monday night's assault - launching dozens of 105mm shells, hundreds of 25mm rounds and more than a hundred 40mm rounds.

"They'd just walk rounds down the street in front of the Bradley teams," said Staven, 43, of Great Falls, Mont. "They sent two gunships home with no rounds left."

On Wednesday, an Apache gunship sank five boats in the Euphrates River that the military said were used to resupply guerrillas with rocket-propelled grenades and mortar shells.

The front line strikes are directed by Air Force or Marine tactical air control teams, who carry computers and laser target designator gear in backpacks, climbing to rooftops of Fallujah and pointing out targets for Air Force, Marine and Navy attack jets.

The teams' laptop computers allow them to glean targeting coordinates from live video transmissions from unmanned spy planes droning above Fallujah.

Some teams are paired with Army or Navy special forces teams or snipers, working on the front lines and calling airstrikes within two blocks of their own positions.

The crowded airspace meant that attack jets bombarding the city Wednesday had a three-minute window to scream down and demolish targets - and then clear out - before another followed on its tail.

Strike jets fly in high-altitude "holding areas" until they are given bombing coordinates, Staven said. U.S. warplanes bombing the city include Marine F-18s and AV-8 Harriers.

The city is also being pummeled by Army Apache and Kiowa helicopters and Marine Super Cobra gunships, as well as the unmanned Predator spy plane, armed with Hellfire missiles.

There are also a slew of unmanned spy planes - including the Hunters and Pioneers - that relay targeting imagery to controllers, as well as a manned Air Force Joint STARS craft monitoring ground traffic and an observation plane that the military requested be unidentified.

At least two aircraft outfitted with "electronic warfare" equipment have flown in the battle of Fallujah, jamming cellular telephones and other communications signals, some of which can be used to remotely detonate insurgents' bombs.

On this Army base outside Fallujah, Staven leads a four-man team watching spy plane video to find mortar teams or rocket launchers and then feeding their positions to pilots flying over the city, or via chat rooms to the nearby Marine air operations center.

"This is how we're controlling the air war," Staven said, pointing to a bank of five computer screens in the dusty, crowded nerve center of the 1st Cavalry Division's base.

The constant air and artillery bombardment has to be demoralizing for Fallujah's guerrilla defenders, Staven said.

"Suddenly you see that mortar team disappear. You never heard it coming. That's got to weigh heavily on their minds," he said.

[aculeus]

All praise the Military-Industrial Complex!

[JamminJAY]

A pair of AC-130 gunships fired their entire arsenal of ammunition

YES! Hope yasser has lots of company.

Jammer

[budwiesest]

Allah biffed the election. They'll have to switch to plan 'B'--surrender.

[El Gato]

They sent two gunships home with no rounds left."

No point in hauling ammo back to base as long are there are terrorist thugs upon which to expend it.

[weenie]

They sent two gunships home with no rounds left.

No dead-heads needed!

Clean em out.

[RedMonqey]

No fewer than 20 types of aircraft have been thrown into the fight, including 10 fixed-wing planes, three types of helicopters and seven kinds of unmanned drones.

"We call it the wedding cake. It's layered all the way up,"


-What's an "IRAQI Wedding party" without a "wedding cake"

[Americanwolf]

I would not doubt it! :) Good to see all modern technology and training is working as advertised.

[weenie]

They'll have to switch to plan 'B'--surrender

But you know they'll never surrender...and John Kerry has plan B in his briefcase (but that's a secret).

[Psycho_Bunny]

ALL YOUR BASE BUMP

[Flyer]

"They'd just walk rounds down the street in front of the Bradley teams," said Staven, 43, of Great Falls, Mont. "They sent two gunships home with no rounds left."

WOOHOO!

Reload!

[spokeshave]

"and I never thought the Americans would be so unmerciful."

Welcome to the party

[Chode]

It's the Fairwell Fallujah and Operation Phantom Fury Air Show!!!

Staring: F-18, F-16C, F-14, AV-8 Harrier and AC-130 Spectre gunship Ground Attack Demonstrations.

Co-Staring Apache, Kiowa and Super Cobra Live Fire Competitions.

Unmanned spy planes: Shadow, Raven, Pioneer, Predator, Hunter, Gnat and Global Hawk... all in a RealTime "Haji" Targeting & BDA competition.

With Guest Appearances by: Psyops- MC-130 (Special Forces C-130 used in leaflet drops over Fallujah)

And the Electronic Armada of E/A6B Prowler (electronic warfare), EC-130 Compass Call (electronic warfare), Joint Stars (observation) and another observation planes keeping Haji Blind, Deaf and Dumb.

[thackney]

thanks for the ping

several good threads today about Fallujah today

bump

[WideGlide]

Look Falluhjans! Up in the Sky. It's a bird. NO! It's a plane. Raining lead.

[Eaker]

"Suddenly you see that mortar team disappear. You never heard it coming. That's got to weigh heavily on their minds," he said.

WOW!!!!

[petertare]

Allah Fubar failed to inform his raggedy raghead followers of our election results.

[humblegunner]

Lock and load, baby.

[Trueblackman]

I would be interested in buying a video of this airshow. Can any Freepers help with video, I have a set of Kerry/Edwards Yard Signs to trade, they have only been nailed in once and peeed on twice....LMAO.

[sullivan-fan]

The only thing I regret about Kerry not becoming president is that he would have made these raids more effective and more sensitive.

[highimpact]

Before my house was destroyed by Hurricane Ivan, I could sit on my back porch and watch the AC-130's circling over Eglin AFB, firing their cannon at the bombing range within a few miles of where I sat. On a clear evening, you could see the muzzle flash each time a 105mm round was fired.

The power of the American military is an awesome spectacle to behold. Those bastards in Fallujah are getting what they deserve.