Coalition aircraft conducted 61 close air support missions in Afghanistan on June 17, Air Forces Central said in a release. In Iraq, there were 25 CAS missions on that day. The strikes in Afghanistan included F-15Es pounding enemy combatants in the vicinity of Bari Kowt with 2,000-pound joint direct attack munitions and a B-1B bomber hitting enemy forces near Musa Qal’eh with 500-pound JDAMs.
The Pentagon’s new counter-drone task force will play a direct role in arming Airmen with new weapons to defend Air Force agile combat employment, or ACE, air bases in austere locations against enemy drone attacks, the director of Joint Interagency Task Force 401 said Oct. 14.