Article

2016-04-22 Iraq

U.S. Ups Pressure on IS with first B-52 Bomber Strike

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Posted by trailing wife 2016-04-22 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11129 views ] Top
File under: Islamic State

#1 Yup, in our collective unconscious, we knowz the magic woids.

Posted by Shipman 2016-04-22 06:06|| 2016-04-22 06:06|| Front Page Top

#2 If I could only count the times this concept has been suggested right here.

Posted by Besoeker 2016-04-22 06:12|| 2016-04-22 06:12|| Front Page Top

#3 Until the first SA-17 launches.

Posted by Mullah Richard 2016-04-22 07:38|| 2016-04-22 07:38|| Front Page Top

#4 Drink UP!

Posted by Frank G 2016-04-22 09:33|| 2016-04-22 09:33|| Front Page Top

#5 The bombing mission, in which a hulking B-52 destroyed a weapons storage facility south of djinn-infested Mosul

I suppose following the subtle logistics chain nuances to the common point-of-origin rather than the delivery destination(s) are a little too complex.

authority now comes from the commanding three-star U.S. general in Baghdad, instead of going through a four-star at the U.S. Central Command's headquarters in Florida.

Maybe a local focus will cut through CENTCOM's 'big picture' brain-fog.

Posted by Skidmark 2016-04-22 10:08|| 2016-04-22 10:08|| Front Page Top

#6 It's only taken 0bean almost eight years of being the president to figure out what he should have known from the get-go. Even then, I suspect this is half for show.

Posted by gorb 2016-04-22 10:54|| 2016-04-22 10:54|| Front Page Top

#7 I suspect that the first strike was on a mostly empty depot with no one in it.

Mostly for show.

Posted by DarthVader 2016-04-22 11:13|| 2016-04-22 11:13|| Front Page Top

#8 authority now comes from the commanding three-star U.S. general in Baghdad, instead of going through a four-star at the U.S. Central Command's headquarters in Florida.

Been that way for years. Other than theater related intelligence inputs out of SOCCENT or the CENTCOM J2, I'd be surprised if the CENTCOM Combatant Commander even maintains daily situation al awareness of the fight. It's a Klington/JSOC economy of force, 'drone zapp' fight. Again, it has been for years. That's the way Champ
wants it.

Posted by Besoeker 2016-04-22 11:18|| 2016-04-22 11:18|| Front Page Top

#9 Did they drop leaflets first, again?

Posted by Procopius2k 2016-04-22 12:45|| 2016-04-22 12:45|| Front Page Top

#10 I suspect that the first strike was on a mostly empty depot with no one in it.

That'd be the Obama way.

Posted by Ebbang Uluque6305 2016-04-22 12:52|| 2016-04-22 12:52|| Front Page Top

#11 authority now comes from the commanding three-star U.S. general in Baghdad, instead of going through a four-star at the U.S. Central Command's headquarters in Florida.

However, air strikes still require the approval of 27 WH attorneys including Tom Hayden and Valerie Jarrett.

Posted by Frozen Al 2016-04-22 13:27|| 2016-04-22 13:27|| Front Page Top

#12 Boeing B-52; doing the job the L-M F-35 can't.

Posted by USN, Ret. 2016-04-22 14:20|| 2016-04-22 14:20|| Front Page Top

#13 the L-M F-35

I'm guessing the L-M stands for Low Mileage.

Posted by SteveS 2016-04-22 14:26|| 2016-04-22 14:26|| Front Page Top

#14 USN, be patient. The F-35 will be able to do that, and more. Eventually. Maybe in 2026, maybe later.

Posted by Rambler in Virginia 2016-04-22 14:26|| 2016-04-22 14:26|| Front Page Top

#15 Re #14: And given time Hell will Freeze Over.

And in a salute to Earth Day: 1 B-52; doing the job of an entire CV full of Lawn Darts.

Posted by USN, Ret. 2016-04-22 15:55|| 2016-04-22 15:55|| Front Page Top

#16 So there’s been a bunch of commotion this week because two F-22 Raptor pilots say they want to transfer to flying different jets. Now, the pilots will go on 60 Minutes this Sunday to discuss the matter. Naturally, everyone’s freaking out since the pilots are apparently going to blow the lid off the jets’ safety issues that we, and everyone else, have written about over the last year.

As you know, the Raptors where cleared to return to flight in September 2011 following a lengthy grounding so that service officials could figure out what was causing F-22 pilots to experience hypoxia-like symptoms in flight (the grounding came several months after an Alaska-based F-22 crashed in November 2010 when its pilot lost situational awareness while trying to activate his plane’s emergency oxygen system). The Air Force still hasn’t figured out what’s messing with the F-22’s pilots and in fact, Raptor jocks have reported 11 instances of hypoxia-like symptoms since the grounding was lifted.

This has apparently prompted at least two pilots to lose faith in the jet as a safe flying platform, with one, Maj. Jeremy Gordon saying he’s “not comfortable flying the F-22 right now.”

The other pilot, Capt. Josh Wilson described an instance last year where he sensed the onset of hypoxia and reached for the plane’s emergency oxygen system — just like the pilot involved in the Alaska crash — but couldn’t remember how to find the system’s poorly-designed activation ring.

From the Newport News Daily Press:

It was … kind of a surreal experience,” he says, because it took great concentration to do simple tasks. He attempted to pull an emergency oxygen ring and couldn’t find it in the cockpit.

Capt. Jeff Haney was headed back to base in his F-22 Raptor fighter jet, ripping through the frigid Alaskan night beyond the speed of sound at more than 1,000 mph, when things started going terribly wrong.

Packed tight in cold-weather gear to protect him from the bitter temperatures, the Air Force pilot pulled back on the control stick at about 38,400 feet to gain altitude. Then Haney saw his plane was beginning to fail him.

A caution light glowed green through his night vision goggles, alerting him that a section of the aircraft was overheating. Almost instantly, the F-22's onboard computers detected an air leak in the engine bay and began automatic shutdown of various systems — including the main oxygen supply.

Gasping for air, Haney set the throttles to idle and began lowering the plane to the snow-covered valley below. About 35 seconds later, Haney's plane began to roll upside down. He couldn't recover. There amid the Talkeetna Mountains north of Anchorage, Haney, 31, crashed and died.

When the U.S. sought to assure Asian allies that it would defend them against potential aggression by North Korea this spring, the Pentagon deployed its top-of-the-line jet fighter, the F-22 Raptor.

But only two of the jets were sent screaming through the skies south of Seoul.

That token show of American force was a stark reminder that the U.S. may have few F-22s to spare. Alarmed by soaring costs, the Defense Department shut down production last year after spending $67.3 billion on just 188 planes — leaving the Air Force to rely mainly on its fleet of 30-year-old conventional fighters.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-advanced-fighter-woes-20130616-dto-htmlstory.html

Sorry about the lack of easy links, but I am working from an iPad, which although expensive but not rare, lacks several important features for us keyboard warriors :)

Posted by Shipman 2016-04-22 16:58|| 2016-04-22 16:58|| Front Page Top

#17 And this, about our beloved Viper.

http://www.gao.gov/assets/120/116765.pdf

I will stop till next time :)

Posted by Shipman 2016-04-22 17:13|| 2016-04-22 17:13|| Front Page Top

#18 Americanized bees.

Posted by Beau 2016-04-22 21:27|| 2016-04-22 21:27|| Front Page Top

#19 Had an uncle who flew B24s in the Pacific. A brother in C130 ditto, and a fraternity brother in KC135, same also again.
Somebody must have had a better idea. Maybe we ought to look at which senator is having the thing built in his state.

Posted by Richard Aubrey 2016-04-22 22:07|| 2016-04-22 22:07|| Front Page Top

#20 Just re-read Ambrose's The Wild Blue.
B-24 pilot didn't sound easy. Did he get Liberator Arm?

Posted by swksvolFF 2016-04-22 22:22|| 2016-04-22 22:22|| Front Page Top

23:56 Slung Smith3824
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