Saturday, November 5, 2016

U.S. Spy Planes Are On the Hunt For Islamic State Fighters

An RC-135V/W Rivet Joint prepares to take off and eventually departs Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar on Oct. 21, 2016. U.S. Air Force photos

War Is Boring: The U.S. Air Force’s Biggest Spy Planes Are Hunting Islamic State Fighters

RC-135 Rivet Joints spot terrorist radios, phones and scoop up chatter

New photographs confirm the U.S. Air Force’s biggest spy planes are helping hunt Islamic State fighters. The missions come as Iraqi and Kurdish troops work to evict the terrorists from the city of Mosul.

On Oct. 21, 2016, at least one RC-135V/W Rivet Joint took off from Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar and headed for either Iraq or Syria. Derived from the Boeing 707 airliner, these four engine flying spooks can travel nearly 4,000 miles without needing to refuel.

“The aircraft provided reconnaissance to the 20-nation air coalition by collecting real-time on-scene … intelligence,” one official caption read.

The jets can supply “near real-time on-scene electronic warfare support, intelligence collection, analysis, and dissemination capabilities,” another caption explained.

As forces on the ground push back Islamic State, making sure the group’s fighters can’t escape unnoticed is particularly important.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: I am sure the Islamci State has adapted .... but their lines of communications must be slow.

6 comments:

fazman said...

Maybe the senior leaders have but the rank and file are as dumb as a box of rocks.

Unknown said...

Our senior leaders are dumb as a box of rocks.

The half heartedly hunt ISIS in the Middle East.

Play tiddly winks with them in Afganistan

Ignore them in Mali and Nigeria.

Forgotten them in Somalia

Had a press blackout in The Phillipines.

BTW duterte seems to be making progress against Abu Sayyaf without the U.S. it seems and because the U.S. may not be involved.

B.Poster said...

"Dumb as a box of rocks." I don't think so. This was the assumption when this group first arose. Then they started taking territory faster and more efficiently and holding it more effectively than the US military ever could have. Very respectfully some just never learn.

They along with their leaders are extraordinarily brilliant, cunning, and very, very evil. This is one of the toughest military forces to ever exist on planet earth. It needs to be treated as such.

As for our leaders being "dumb as a box of rocks", I couldn't materially disagree with that. Much evidence exists to support such a statement.

ISIS will ultimately be defeated. The math simply doesn't work for them. Part of their epitaph will read that they could not adjust to behaving like a normal state. It will NOT read "they were dumb as a box of rocks." There may be a mention about their extreme brilliance. Such misunderstandings, as long as they persist, will only delay the defeat of this very evil and dangerous enemy leading to even more needless deaths. For some reason, some just don't learn.

fazman said...

Agreed 100% mate

fazman said...

Dumb as rocks, even a rock is smart if surrounded by dog crap.
The initial assumption was correct and it was the lack of a credible opposition that allowed them to expand.
They exploited a lack of preparedness and political will to use force by the impotent obama end of story.

rjbrash said...

Holy crap! I looked at the tail number in that pic. I flew in that plane back in the early 80's! Memories came back. The hatch we had to seal with wet paper towels. The time the landing gear didn't want to come down. The christmas eve mission. Oh lord!