Recent US and coalition airstrikes have taken out a series of high-level ISIS officials, including those in charge of anti-aircraft operations and coordination of the group’s trademark vehicle-borne explosives. A Jan. 12 US strike in Mosul, Iraq, took out Abu Abas al-Kiriashi, a leader who coordinated the movement of vehicle-born improvised explosive devices, along with about a dozen of his associates, coalition spokesman Air Force Col. John Dorrian said Wednesday. A Jan. 4 strike in Mosul took out Abdullah Sulyiamani al-Jaburi, an ISIS leader who was responsible for anti-aircraft defense in Mosul. “His death will degrade Daesh’s ability to defend the extremist control of Mosul from the coalition’s persistent airstrikes on their leaders and the advancing Iraqi security force’s liberation of the city,” he said, using another term for ISIS. ISIS has control of small anti-aircraft artillery pieces, though Dorrian did not provide a specific breakdown of the assets. “They do have the capability to threaten aircraft that are low to the ground; not a tremendous number of them,” Dorrian said. “But when they’re found, certainly we’re going to eliminate a threat like that because that’s a significant threat. We’re not going to allow something like that to exist anywhere on the battlefield.” A Feb. 13 airstrike in Mosul also killed Haqi Ismail Ahmed al-Emri, a leader who had control of ISIS security networks in the city.
The last remaining T-1 Jayhawk at JBSA-Randolph, Texas, took its final flight to the "Boneyard" at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., on July 15. The 99th Flying Training Squadron will train pilots using T-6 and simulator until it gets T-7 Red Hawk in fiscal 2026.