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.
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.
