USAF and coalition aircraft are flying close air support missions daily in Southwest Asia—both in Iraq and Afghanistan. (See the number of CAS, intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance, and mobility sorties flown by date, below and in previous Daily Reports.) On Oct. 24 and 25, US Air Force F-16s launched precision-guided bombs, striking an anti-Iraqi force weapons cache on the first day and anti-Iraqi forces the next in action near Karabilah, Iraq.
A recent Air Force contract to buy up to $50 million worth of small drones from Anduril Industries may soon allow the service’s special operations command to transform its MQ-9 Reapers into drone-launching motherships.




