Strike Eagles destroy Ba'ath leadership facility [F-15E]

Air Force Link ^ | 03/29/03 | Master Sgt. Scott Elliott

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

03/29/03 - WASHINGTON -- A pair of Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles attacked a Ba'ath Party headquarters building in southern Iraq on March 28, where some 200 leaders of the Iraqi "irregular forces" were meeting.

According to Maj. Gen. Victor Renuart, U.S. Central Command director of operations, the attack was meant to destroy some of the terror cells that are holding hostage many of the cities in southern Iraq.

"Each time we make one of these attacks, we degrade the regime," Renuart said during the daily CENTCOM press briefing at the command's forward headquarters in Qatar on March 29.

Renuart said the strike on the building, northeast of Basra, came about when small special operations teams got close enough to identify the location of the meeting, tell Operation Iraqi Freedom leaders and call in the air strike.

"The targets are picked as they're vetted by the intelligence community," Renuart said. "We're confident in their ability to give us good information."

While the attack on the building is believed to have claimed about 200 lives, Renuart said targets are not necessarily selected with that in mind.

"Our intent in (attacking) many of the command and control facilities is not necessarily to kill people, but to take away capability that facility allows," he said.

Many command facilities are unoccupied by people, but they house key switching systems for communications networks, such as fiber optics and coaxial cable repeaters, he said.

"There is significant military value in each command and control (facility) that allows the Iraqis to communicate with their units," he said.

Besides targeting regime, military and command networks, coalition air forces continue to expand their freedom of movement over Iraq, Renuart said.

Coalition forces have taken control of Iraqi airfields and, in some cases, are conducting combat search and rescue, close air support and logistics mission from them.

"We've taken advantage of very rapid sensor-to-shooter links in order to retarget our airmen to respond to situations on the battlefield that commanders feel are critical," Renuart said.

"It's a great story of a combined nature -- these are U.S., U.K. and Australian airmen responding through pretty rotten weather ... to engage ... targets, and we're seeing success as we expected," he said.

The coalition is experiencing, and expects to maintain, total air dominance over Iraq, Renuart said.

"The Iraqi air force has not flown an airplane. They've not had the capability or shown the inclination to fly," Renuart said. "I am absolutely comfortable that the air component commander has a number of airmen up there who would be ecstatic if the Iraqis tried to fly."

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

F-15E Strike Eagles getting it done!

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

Ping!!

[GeorgeBerryman]

Great Caesar's Ghost--! What's the payload on that behemoth in the picture?!? I count four sidewinders (unless I'm mistaken) and what... ten or twelve missiles??

[dighton]

"Not a pound for air-to-ground," but for you Ba'athists we'll make an exception.

;-)

[Spruce]

WHAT A MOST EXCELLENT BIRD!

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

I think he's carrying bombs, but I'm not positive. The Strike Eagle can carry a pretty impressive payload, eh?

[zarf]

Good God!! That is one pregnant bird!!

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

Yep, he's got everything but the kitchen sing slung under the wings and fuselage.

[cinFLA]

I think he's carrying bombs, but I'm not positive.

Just guessing but I would say 500 pounders since that has been one of the most commonly used from the reports.

[cinFLA]

Although the slogan of the F-15's original design team was "Not a pound for air-to-ground," the F-15 has long been recognized as having superior potential in the ground attack role. In 1987 this potential was realized in the form of the F-15E Strike Eagle. The mission of the Strike Eagle is as succinct as that of its air-to-air cousin: to put bombs on target. The F-15E is especially configured for the deep strike mission, venturing far behind enemy lines to attack high value targets with a variety of munitions. The Strike Eagle accomplishes this mission by expanding on the capabilities of the air superiority F-15, adding a rear seat WSO (Weapon Systems Operator) crewmember and incorporating an entirely new suite of air-to-ground avionics.

The F-15E is a two seat, two engine dual role fighter capable of speeds up to MACH 2.5. The F-15E performs day and night all weather air-to-air and air-to-ground missions including strategic strike, interdiction, OCA and DCA. Although primarily a deep interdiction platform, the F-15E can also perform CAS and Escort missions. Strike Eagles are equipped with LANTIRN, enhancing night PGM delivery capability. The F-15E outbord and inboard wing stations and the centerline can be load with various armament. The outboard wing hardpoint are unable to carry heavy loads and are assign for ECM pods. The other hardpoints can be employed for various loads but with the use of multiple ejection racks (MERs). Each MER can hold six Mk-82 bombs or "Snakeye" retarded bombs, or six Mk 20 "Rockeye" dispensers, four CBU-52B, CBU- 58B, or CBU-71B dispensers, a single Mk-84 (907 kg) bomb F- 15E can carry also "smart" weapons, CBU-10 laser quided bomb based on the Mk 84 bomb, CBU-12, CBU-15, or another, laser, electro-optical, or infra-red guided bomb (including AGM-G5 "Marerick" air-to-ground) missiles.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Thanks for getting this (Great pictures on the list!

OFFICIAL BUMP(TOPIC)LIST

[Fulbright]

This kind of strike is smart, because Saddam's regime is an old time Stalinist operation with snitches on every block, KGB troops in the rear to keep the cannon fodder moving north, etc.

As such, all offices and suspected offices of the Communist Party and secret police should be top targets.

[DAPFE8900]

Looks like Cluster bombs a whole S*** LOAD!!!!
Hate to be on the recieving end of that...OUCH!!!

[The Citizen Soldier]

"Our intent in (attacking) many of the command and control facilities is not necessarily to kill people, but to take away capability that facility allows," he said.

I still find it troubling that we are apologizing for killing the people who are trying to kill us. How many of those 200 would employ chemical weapons or drive a "taxi" strapped with dynamite given the opportunity?

200 less enemy soldiers causes me no pangs of guilt.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

Here's a video link.

I don't know if this is the exact strike described in the article above, but it is an F-15E strike on Ba'ath Party leadership.

Thanks to Diogenesis. I got this link from his thread HERE.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

Oops wrong video. I guess I better have that second cup of coffee. Let's try this again.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

No doubt, I see know reason to apologize for killing the enemy. Our PC culture has turned us into chronic apologizers. I see this war as self-defense and we shouldn't feel guilty about doing what is right.

I haven't seen an apology for Sept. 11th and I haven't seen any apologies from the muslims who rationalize it (contrary to popular belief, the mainstream muslims are minimizing and rationalizing terrorism, it isn't just a fringe thing).

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

Oops, know=no.