Air and missile strikes herald new phase in
the fight against terrorism
By Andrew Koch, Washington Bureau Chief, Jane’s Defence Weekly
The US-led ‘war against terrorism’ entered a new, more militarised phase on 7 October with air and cruise missile strikes against targets in Afghanistan.
In announcing the attacks, US President George Bush stated: "The United States military has begun strikes against Al-Qaeda terrorist training camps and military installations of the Taliban regime." The operations, Bush said, "are designed to disrupt the use of Afghanistan as a terrorist base of operations and to attack the military capabilities of the Taliban".
The attacks mark the second phase of the conflict over terrorism, with the first phase including the application of economic, political, diplomatic and psychological pressure on terrorists and their networks and included the extensive use of intelligence-gathering systems. One of those systems, Jane’s Defence Weekly analysis of video shows, is the RQ-4A Global Hawk high-altitude, long-endurance unmanned air vehicle (UAV), which was fired on by Taliban forces earlier in the week. This marked the first known operational deployment of the Global Hawk.
The US military has also been conducting psychological operations (Psyops) such as leaflet drops and radio programme broadcasts through EC-130E ‘Commando Solo’ aircraft, US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld confirmed. Psyops are typically begun prior to offensive military operations to help ‘prepare’ the battlefield and generate support from local populations.
Rumsfeld added that the attacks were aimed to "create conditions for sustained anti-terrorist and humanitarian relief operations in Afghanistan". In order to do that, Rumsfeld said, the attacks were necessary to remove the threat of Taliban-controlled anti-aircraft systems and aircraft. The Taliban has "a limited number of surface-to-air missiles" and a greater quantity of manportable air-defence systems", Rumsfeld said. US defence officials added that other targets in Afghanistan were also struck, including military command and control sites and terrorist training camps.
The US has pledged $320 million in humanitarian assistance to the Afghan refugees and plans to disperse some of that food aid via high-altitude food drops by C-17 and other aircraft operating out of Ramstein Air Base in Germany. US defence officials say they fear some of those flights could have been threatened by Taliban anti-aircraft systems.
Targets in the Afghan cities of Kandahar, Kabul, Jalalabad and Herat were confirmed struck, while other locations such as targets in Mazar-e-Sharif may also have been hit. The attacks involved 50 Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles (TLAMs) fired from US and UK ships and submarines in the Arabian Sea, 15 B-1 and B-2 stealth bombers flying out of the continental USA, B-52H bombers launched from Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean and 25 US strike aircraft based on aircraft carriers, General Richard Myers, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said. The B-1 and B-2 bombers primarily used ‘smart-bombs’ such as Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs), while the B-52s were likely to have used Conventional Air Launched Cruise Missiles (CALCMs).
British Prime Minister Tony Blair confirmed that the attacks included TLAMs fired from UK nuclear-attack submarines (SSNs). The UK has two SSNs capable of firing TLAMs -- the HMS Trafalgar and HMS Triumph. Blair added that the UK has also allowed the use of its air base on Diego Garcia and that air assets committed to the operation "will be available for use in the coming days". Canada, Australia, Germany and France have also pledged military support.
By Andrew Koch, Washington Bureau Chief, Jane’s Defence Weekly
The US-led ‘war against terrorism’ entered a new, more militarised phase on 7 October with air and cruise missile strikes against targets in Afghanistan.
In announcing the attacks, US President George Bush stated: "The United States military has begun strikes against Al-Qaeda terrorist training camps and military installations of the Taliban regime." The operations, Bush said, "are designed to disrupt the use of Afghanistan as a terrorist base of operations and to attack the military capabilities of the Taliban".
The attacks mark the second phase of the conflict over terrorism, with the first phase including the application of economic, political, diplomatic and psychological pressure on terrorists and their networks and included the extensive use of intelligence-gathering systems. One of those systems, Jane’s Defence Weekly analysis of video shows, is the RQ-4A Global Hawk high-altitude, long-endurance unmanned air vehicle (UAV), which was fired on by Taliban forces earlier in the week. This marked the first known operational deployment of the Global Hawk.
The US military has also been conducting psychological operations (Psyops) such as leaflet drops and radio programme broadcasts through EC-130E ‘Commando Solo’ aircraft, US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld confirmed. Psyops are typically begun prior to offensive military operations to help ‘prepare’ the battlefield and generate support from local populations.
Rumsfeld added that the attacks were aimed to "create conditions for sustained anti-terrorist and humanitarian relief operations in Afghanistan". In order to do that, Rumsfeld said, the attacks were necessary to remove the threat of Taliban-controlled anti-aircraft systems and aircraft. The Taliban has "a limited number of surface-to-air missiles" and a greater quantity of manportable air-defence systems", Rumsfeld said. US defence officials added that other targets in Afghanistan were also struck, including military command and control sites and terrorist training camps.
The US has pledged $320 million in humanitarian assistance to the Afghan refugees and plans to disperse some of that food aid via high-altitude food drops by C-17 and other aircraft operating out of Ramstein Air Base in Germany. US defence officials say they fear some of those flights could have been threatened by Taliban anti-aircraft systems.
Targets in the Afghan cities of Kandahar, Kabul, Jalalabad and Herat were confirmed struck, while other locations such as targets in Mazar-e-Sharif may also have been hit. The attacks involved 50 Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles (TLAMs) fired from US and UK ships and submarines in the Arabian Sea, 15 B-1 and B-2 stealth bombers flying out of the continental USA, B-52H bombers launched from Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean and 25 US strike aircraft based on aircraft carriers, General Richard Myers, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said. The B-1 and B-2 bombers primarily used ‘smart-bombs’ such as Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs), while the B-52s were likely to have used Conventional Air Launched Cruise Missiles (CALCMs).
British Prime Minister Tony Blair confirmed that the attacks included TLAMs fired from UK nuclear-attack submarines (SSNs). The UK has two SSNs capable of firing TLAMs -- the HMS Trafalgar and HMS Triumph. Blair added that the UK has also allowed the use of its air base on Diego Garcia and that air assets committed to the operation "will be available for use in the coming days". Canada, Australia, Germany and France have also pledged military support.
