Scorpion
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USAF employing significantly more munitions against the Islamic State
USAF armourers prepare munitions ahead of airstrikes against the Islamic State. The service has seen a ninefold increase in the numbers of munitions it has dropped over the previous three months. Source: US Air Force
The US Air Force (USAF) has employed considerably more munitions in its campaign against the Islamic State over recent weeks, the service disclosed on 6 January.
This increased expenditure of weaponry was revealed in an article on deployed USAF armourers that was published on the service's official website.
A coalition strike map for Iraq and Syria from August to Decemeber 2014 showing the increased tempo of operations over recent weeks. (IHS)
"[Prior to being deployed] I had no idea how high tempo the mission was going to be or how many munitions we would be building," a senior airman said in the piece, adding, "In the last three months we have already built over nine times the amount of munitions than the last rotation did in their entire six [months]."
While the previous rotation did include a period before airstrikes were launched, the numbers of munitions now being expended is significant. According to the air force, more than 500 GBU-38 and GBU-54 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) precision-guided bombs have been dropped since the beginning of October 2014.
Since operations against the Islamic State began in early August 2014, the USAF has conducted more than 60% of all the airstrikes so far carried out. The remaining 40% have been conducted by the US Navy, US Marine Corps, Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom.
ANALYSIS
When airstrikes were first launched in August 2014 many assumed that the combined air arms of the United States and its allies would quickly stem the tide of Islamic State advances across Syria and Iraq and reverse the gains that the organisation had made.
In the face of such an asymmetric threat, however, the Islamic State has adjusted its patterns of behaviour to make it less susceptible to airstrikes. For example, militants are said to no longer travel in large convoys that can be easily spotted and targeted from the air.
As such, coalition combat aircraft have spent much of the campaign so far striking small-scale targets such as individual vehicles and fighting positions, which necessarily involves expending more munitions than would be the case with striking larger formations and facilities.
The dramatic increase in the number of munitions being expended by the US Air Force is as much a result of having to strike these lower-key and individual targets as it is an increase in the tempo of the mission.
USAF employing significantly more munitions against the Islamic State - IHS Jane's 360
USAF armourers prepare munitions ahead of airstrikes against the Islamic State. The service has seen a ninefold increase in the numbers of munitions it has dropped over the previous three months. Source: US Air Force
The US Air Force (USAF) has employed considerably more munitions in its campaign against the Islamic State over recent weeks, the service disclosed on 6 January.
This increased expenditure of weaponry was revealed in an article on deployed USAF armourers that was published on the service's official website.
"[Prior to being deployed] I had no idea how high tempo the mission was going to be or how many munitions we would be building," a senior airman said in the piece, adding, "In the last three months we have already built over nine times the amount of munitions than the last rotation did in their entire six [months]."
While the previous rotation did include a period before airstrikes were launched, the numbers of munitions now being expended is significant. According to the air force, more than 500 GBU-38 and GBU-54 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) precision-guided bombs have been dropped since the beginning of October 2014.
Since operations against the Islamic State began in early August 2014, the USAF has conducted more than 60% of all the airstrikes so far carried out. The remaining 40% have been conducted by the US Navy, US Marine Corps, Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom.
ANALYSIS
When airstrikes were first launched in August 2014 many assumed that the combined air arms of the United States and its allies would quickly stem the tide of Islamic State advances across Syria and Iraq and reverse the gains that the organisation had made.
In the face of such an asymmetric threat, however, the Islamic State has adjusted its patterns of behaviour to make it less susceptible to airstrikes. For example, militants are said to no longer travel in large convoys that can be easily spotted and targeted from the air.
As such, coalition combat aircraft have spent much of the campaign so far striking small-scale targets such as individual vehicles and fighting positions, which necessarily involves expending more munitions than would be the case with striking larger formations and facilities.
The dramatic increase in the number of munitions being expended by the US Air Force is as much a result of having to strike these lower-key and individual targets as it is an increase in the tempo of the mission.
USAF employing significantly more munitions against the Islamic State - IHS Jane's 360
