A Look At Why The B-1 Bomber Was The Perfect Weapons Platform To Use During The Battle For The Syrian Town Of Kobani

B-1 Bomber (Photo: Airman 1st Class Charles Rivezzo/Air Force)

Air Force Times: Inside the B-1 crew that pounded ISIS with 1,800 bombs

For almost five months, B-1 crews from the 9th Bomb Squadron at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, focused on one town — Kobani in Syria — in the battle against the Islamic State group.

Kurdish forces were entrenched in their own city as waves of Islamic State fighters advanced.

The enemy was “sending troops there constantly,” said a weapons systems officer from the 9th Bomb Squadron identified for security reasons only as Scram. “They were very willing to impale themselves on that city.”

That made the battle site target-rich: There were fighters out in the open and on top of buildings and bridges.

The B-1 was right for the fight. It can carry up to 84 500-pound general-purpose bombs, or a combination of dozens of other weaponry of similar weight. It can loiter on station for up to 10 hours with a single air refueling. The U.S. airmen could stay on station for hours, taking on targets from Kurdish forces and developing their own targets to push the fighters out.

WNU Editor: I guess this is why they felt confident when they were targeting enemy positions ....

.... Unlike the missions the B-1 aircrews were used to in Afghanistan, there were no American boots on the ground calling in airstrikes. Instead, the crews relied on a mix of Kurdish troops, coalition surveillance and their own sensors to identify targets.

But according to other sources there were western forces on the ground doing the targeting .... SAS 'saved hundred of lives' in battle with Islamic State for Kobani (Express).