{"id":24384,"date":"2016-03-30T17:52:17","date_gmt":"2016-03-30T17:52:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2016\/03\/30\/isis-kill-missions-1-in-5-drone-flights-includes-a-missile-strike\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T20:39:41","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T20:39:41","slug":"isis-kill-missions-1-in-5-drone-flights-includes-a-missile-strike","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2016\/03\/30\/isis-kill-missions-1-in-5-drone-flights-includes-a-missile-strike\/","title":{"rendered":"ISIS kill missions: 1 in 5 drone flights includes a missile strike"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Nearly one in five\u00a0of the Air Force’s remotely piloted aircraft missions against the\u00a0Islamic State involves strikes against the militants, according to Air Forces Central Command.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unmanned aircraft leave the Islamic State nowhere to hide.\u00a0Unmanned aircraft <\/span>MQ-1 Predators and MQ-9 Reapers, armed with Hellfire missiles,\u00a0have flown a third of the Air Force’s sorties against Islamic State militants\u00a0since the start of Operation Inherent Resolve,\u00a0providing\u00a0intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance. The unmanned aircraft have hit ISIS targets on 17 percent of those sorties, Between intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance and targeted strikes, Air Force RPAs have flown 33 percent of sorties since the start of Operation Inherent Resolve, <\/span>according to statistics from Air Forces Central Command <\/span>AFCENT statistics provided to Air Force Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About 17 percent, nearly one in five, Nearly one in five (17 percent) of the service’s remotely piloted\u00a0missions over Iraq and Syria involve targeted strikes, according to AFCENT said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Air Force is using the MQ-1 Predator\u00a0and MQ-9 Reaper for its unmanned airstrike missions for OIR. Both RPAs are equipped to carry Hellfire missiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“When comparing manned vs. unmanned aircraft, it’s not important where the aircrew sits to deliver the effects, it\u2019s the effect it\u00a0delivers that matters,” said AFCENT spokeswoman Lt. Col. Kristi Beckman. “The MQ-1 and MQ-9 aircraft deliver persistent attack and reconnaissance and are vital complei<\/span>ments to the AFCENT inventory. Both of these platforms, like\u00a0our manned aircraft, bring different but indispensable qualities to the fight.”\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

Although\u00a0And\u00a0<\/span>MQ-1s are nearing the end of their service life, they are now flying\u00a0just as often as\u00a0F-15Es before their time runs out<\/span>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The phased retirement of the\u00a0Predator is\u00a0set begin\u00a0to be phased out for retirement starting <\/span>later this year;<\/span>, and all MQ-1s are expected planned <\/span>to be out of service by 2018-2019, officials have said.\u00a0The Air Force wants to move its airmen onto more MQ-9s and has requested\u00a024 more Reapers in its fiscal 2017 budget.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The 12 MQ-9 aircraft added in FY15 and the addition of 4 more\u00a0aircraft in FY16 will greatly aid our combat and reconnaissance operations we provide to the\u00a0C<\/span>combatant C<\/span>commanders,” Gen. Herbert “Hawk” Carlisle, head of Air Combat Command, recently told Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Air Force MQ-1s and MQ-9s currently fly 60 combat lines every day. Each combat line can last up to 22 hours,” he stated said <\/span>in his written testimony for before <\/span>the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on March 16.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

Carlisle did not specify how many combat lines were specifically being flown for missions against the Islamic State.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also likely that some of the missions are being flown for the CIA, but the agency declined to comment on the matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s how remotely piloted aircraft contribute to the air war against the islamic Statefit into both the manned and unmanned sortie and strike flights over ISIS territory<\/span>:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The U.S. Air Force is using five manned and three unmanned aircraft for its missions in support of the war on Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria. A look at how each is being employed<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photo Credit: Air Force<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The RQ-4 Global Hawk, which can hover for more than over <\/span>35 hours,\u00a0contributes slightly\u00a0just a hair\u00a0<\/span>to high-altitude reconnaissance missions, according to AFCENT. The\u00a0all-weather, long-distance aircraft does not carry missiles or weapons, but can\u00a0guide<\/a> other aircraft to their targets and monitors<\/span> the airstrikes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Air Force has been dominating the air war in Iraq and Syria since the Pentagon\u00a0committed to fight the Islamic State military group, also known as ISIS or ISIL,<\/span>\u00a0in 2014.\u00a0The service, flying more than half the total coalition sorties\u00a0under OIR, has dropped 4,748 bombs so far in 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remotely piloted aircraft RPAs <\/span>continue to\u00a0anchor the 24\/7 fight\u00a0night- and day-efforts <\/span>against the extremist group, now\u00a0spreading its upheaval through Europe. Most recently, ISIS claimed responsibility for the\u00a0bombings in Brussels, Belgium<\/span>. In addition to the Air Force drones, the Army flies tactical unmanned aerial vehicles like the\u00a0MQ-1C Gray Eagle\u00a0for OIR operations. The Gray Eagle, which also can be armed with Hellfire missiles,\u00a0also\u00a0capable of being armed with Hellfires, <\/span>has\u00a0flown armed sorties, Army Col. Chris Garver, an OIR spokesman,\u00a0told Air Force Times Tuesday. He did not say whether elaborate if <\/span>the Army had actually struck any targets\u00a0conducted any targeted strikes<\/span>.\u00a0The\u00a0Navy does not have an unmanned ISR capability operating in Iraq or Syria. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The coalition’s platforms are all essential, but U.S. fighter aircraft such as the F-16 (which flies the most sorties for OIR) and bombers like the B-1 (which drops the most ordnancebombs the most for OIR<\/span>),\u00a0still<\/span> “cannot orbit unseen and\u00a0unheard over a civilian population interspersed with enemy combatants,” Carlisle said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“They are limited by\u00a0their loiter time and aerial refueling requirements. Our MQ-1 and MQ-9 aircraft have no such\u00a0limitations,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oriana Pawlyk covers\u00a0deployments, cyber,\u00a0Guard\/Reserve, uniforms,\u00a0physical training,\u00a0crime and operations in the Middle East, Europe and Pacific for Air Force Times. She was the Early Bird Brief editor in 2015. Email her at\u00a0opawlyk@airforcetimes.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nearly one in five of the Air Force’s remotely piloted aircraft missions against the Islamic State involves strikes against the militants. Unmanned aircraft have flown a third of the Air Force’s sorties against ISIS.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":50273,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":67,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[16,67],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1640],"class_list":["post-24384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-your-air-force"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"DOVCTK2MOBBFHEZBF2VBYIYKHY","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-air-force\/2016\/03\/30\/isis-kill-missions-1-in-5-drone-flights-includes-a-missile-strike\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\nISIS kill missions: 1 in 5 drone flights includes a missile strike - Air Force TImes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Nearly one in five of the Air Force's remotely piloted aircraft missions against the Islamic State involves strikes against the militants. 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