Gen. Mark Milley’s trip to Israel – his second in eight months – comes as the US and Israel heighten collaboration against Iran and its proxies.
By Arie EgoziA Russian fighter reportedly shadowed an Israeli strike plane attacking Iranian-linked targets.
By Arie EgoziHours after the Defense Secretary and Joint Chiefs Chairman promised action, the US struck five Kata’ib Hizbollah “weapons storage” sites — but the militia’s Iranian backers are likely off the hook, for now.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.Republican Senators erupted in outrage, and there are some indications that Turkey pushed Trump to withdraw support from its traditional foes, the Kurds. The British government issued an equivocal statement, while the Kremlin applauded the move.
By Paul McLeary“The training we have given them we know has paid off,” Mattis said of the Saudis. “We have had pilots in the air who recognize the danger of a specific mission and declined to drop even when they get the authority. We have seen staff procedures that put no-fire areas around areas where there’s hospitals or schools.”
By Paul McLearyCORRECTS: Attribution to Col. Joe UPDATED: 432 Wing Commander Wants GBU-54 Next CREECH AIR FORCE BASE: The Air Force has added the Joint Direct Attack Munition (GBU-38) a GPS-guided bomb, to the Reaper drone force, dropping the first one in a combat strike in Operation Inherent Resolve on Thursday. Lt. Col. David, director of…
By Colin ClarkWASHINGTON: There’s a lot we don’t know about MOAB, the bomb originally designed to terrify and obliterate Iraqi troops and used in combat for the first time today in Afghanistan. We know that it is guided by GPS. We know that it’s very big — 27,100 pounds or so — and works well against caves…
By Colin ClarkWASHINGTON: Airstrikes against the Islamic State have dropped 30 percent since June, because Islamic State retreats and Turkish advances have made it much harder to find targets, three experts told us. The administration’s self-imposed limits and negotiations with Russia — of which the military is very wary — restrict airstrikes as well. The ground war in Iraq…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.FORT BRAGG, NC: The US is not practicing traditional counter-insurgency (COIN) warfare in Iraq and Syria. Instead, the US is providing high-tech firepower, cyber power, and other “enablers” to local allies who don’t have them, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said here today. That approach, which ranges from stealth fighters to “cyber bombs,” has a lot in common with…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.CORRECTED strikes per day figure WASHINGTON: The air war against the Islamic State is not “anemic,” a Central Command spokesman told Breaking Defense, rebutting a critique of the campaign we published last week. To say the rate of airstrikes in Syria and Iraq is less than against Iraq in 1991 and 2003, Serbia and Kosovo in…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.CAPITOL HILL: UPDATE BEGINS The administration’s nominee for Marine Corps Commandant, Lt. Gen. Bob Neller, set off a firestorm from Sen. John McCain this morning. After two hours of an otherwise congenial confirmation hearing, the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman erupted over Neller’s description of the current administration strategy against the Islamic State. That strategy relies on airpower and advisors…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.Airpower sounds swift and surgical, but sometimes it’s really closer to trench warfare with wings. Earlier this week, with the smoke still rising from the retaken Iraqi city of Tikrit, Central Command released detailed data on air strikes against the self-proclaimed Islamic State. We’ve crunched the numbers, and it’s clear the eight-month-old campaign is becoming…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.