The US-led coalition has hit ISIS’s leadership in Mosul hard in the run up to the Iraqi-led offensive, taking out more than 35 commanders in the last 90 days. Defense Secretary Ash Carter, speaking Tuesday at a meeting of the Counter-ISIL Small Group Ministerial meeting in Paris, said the “coalition is providing a range of capabilities to enable the Iraqis to continue to shrink ISIL’s brutal control over Iraqi territory.” The coalition’s efforts to target high ISIL leadership has led to results that have “encouraged” the ministers. “In fact, you might say the most dangerous job in Iraq right now is to be the military emir of Mosul,” Carter said. Still, there will be a tough fight ahead as US-backed Iraqi and Peshmerga troops approach the city. (See also: Iraqi Approach to Mosul Moving Faster Than Expected and The Drumbeat Toward Mosul.)
The Pentagon announced new long-term agreements with four defense companies May 13 to develop and produce large numbers of low-cost cruise missiles. And while the effort will focus mostly on the Army to start, it pairs with Air Force efforts to find more affordable munitions.