US Central Command Air Forces applied intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance air assets combined with precision strike and close air support to aid coalition ground forces in Afghanistan Jan. 10, killing as many as 150 insurgents. CENTAF deputy command, Maj. Gen. William Holland called it a “perfect example” in the “flexibility and combat capability” of combined air assets. The action took place in the Paktika province, where two large groups of insurgents moving across the border from Pakistan were tracked as they launched an attack against coalition ground forces.
The emphasis on speed in the Pentagon’s newly unveiled slate of acquisition reforms may come with increased near-term cost increases, analysts say. But according to U.S. defense officials, the new weapons-buying construct provides the military with enough flexibility to prevent runaway budget overruns in major programs.
