Breaking news
British Royal Air Force conducted numerous missions across southern Afghanistan laste week 3010113.
a | |||
World
Air Force News - United Kingdom |
|||
British Royal Air Force conducted numerous missions across southern Afghanistan
laste week. |
|||
The British
Royal air Force 31 Squadron's detachment at Kandahar Airfield has undertaken
a number of 'shows of force' (SoF) and 'shows of presence' (SoP) in support
of ground based troops across Afghanistan. Two SoP were carried out in
support of US troops operating in Regional Command (RC) North. |
|||
A Tornado GR4 at Kandahar Airfield in southern Afghanistan (stock image) [Picture: Senior Aircraftman Neil Chapman, Crown Copyright/British MOD 2009] |
|||
The following day, the Squadron's Tornados were called
upon to provide armed overwatch to an Italian ground patrol in RC West
who had come under fire from small arms. Two SoF were undertaken in
a 30-minute period which suppressed the fire from the insurgents allowing
the Italian troops to successfully complete their mission. |
|||
A Sea King Mk7 Airborne Surveillance and Control helicopter in Afghanistan (stock image) [Picture: Corporal Mike Jones, Crown Copyright/British MOD] |
|||
The
very successful relationship between the US Marine Corps (USMC) of Task
Force Leatherneck and the Sea King Airborne Surveillance and Control (SKASaC)
detachment from 903 Expeditionary Air Wing continued with the provision
of near real-time support to ground elements from 3 Company of the USMC's
2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion. RC Team 5 has worked closely with the SKASaCs to successfully disrupt facilitation routes used by the insurgents southeast of Lashkar Gah. The past week has also seen the movement of the SKASaCs Ops team to the new Joint Helicopter Force (Afghanistan) JHF(A) Operations Centre. Tactical Imagery Wing (TIW) continued to deliver crucial support to ISAF all over Afghanistan last week, with much of their effort focussed on the south and east of the country. A number of Tornado GR4 sorties have been completed, with particular attention being given to Counter-Improvised Explosive Device (C-IED) reconnaissance in support of Task Force Helmand. The GR4's RAPTOR (Reconnaissance Airborne Pod for Tornado) pods were perfect for the task and, with the detailed analysis provided by TIW experts, ground commanders were furnished with detailed imagery and information that allowed them to make better-informed tactical decisions that ensure the continued success of a number crucial operations. As the busy Relief in Place period continued, JHF(A) aircraft were once again called upon to protect ISAF personnel. When a number of insurgents were spotted preparing to launch an attack near Patrol Base Ghundey, in Zhari district, just west of Kandahar, it was left to the Attack Helicopter Force to interdict the Taliban fighters and successfully thwart the attack. |
|||