PAUL LEWIS / WASHINGTON DC
After two months of air strikes against Taliban and Al Qaeda targets across Afghanistan, the US Air Force and US Navy airborne campaign has narrowed to a 26km² (10 square miles) of the White Mountain range known as Tora Bora along the border with Pakistan, where Osama Bin Laden's remaining forces have dug in.
The US military has brought its range of deep penetration weapons to bear against the extensive complex of caves and tunnels occupied by Al Qaeda forces.
This is believed to include the 2,270kg (5,000lb) GBU-28 and newer GPS-guided GBU-37 bombs, the parachute dropped 15,000lb BLU-82 Commando Vault and the latest addition to the USAF inventory, the Boeing AGM-86D cruise missile rearmed with the Lockheed Martin Advanced Unitary Penetrator.
Afghan forces, along with US and UK special forces, are also being supported by the Lockheed Martin AC-130 Spectre gunship. The US Department of Defense has confirmed that its using the General Atomics RQ-1 Predator unmanned air vehicle in conjunction with the AC-130s to pinpoint ground targets. The USAF and USN bomber and strike aircraft have also been making increased use of ground controllers to identify and designate targets as the theatre of operations has been squeezed into a comparatively small area of highrise mountains.
The USAF in the meantime has discontinued flying Boeing C-17 humanitarian relief operations, as airports and land crossings into Afghanistan have once again been reopened to civilian relief efforts. The C-17s dropped around 2.4 million individual daily meals over the last two months, more recently delivering containers of wheat and blankets.
The USA has lost its first bomber since the air campaign started, but due to technical failure rather than enemy fire. The four man crew of the Rockwell B-1B bailed out and were rescued from the sea by a USN warship while trying to return to the island base of Diego Garcia. The pilot says he lost control of the four-engine bomber after "multiple system malfunctions."
Source: Flight International
