{"id":47436,"date":"2021-09-07T19:11:13","date_gmt":"2021-09-07T19:11:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2021\/09\/07\/us-over-the-horizon-capabilities-robust-but-use-requires-strategic-refinement-experts-say\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T14:43:45","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T14:43:45","slug":"us-over-the-horizon-capabilities-robust-but-use-requires-strategic-refinement-experts-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/industry\/techwatch\/2021\/09\/07\/us-over-the-horizon-capabilities-robust-but-use-requires-strategic-refinement-experts-say\/","title":{"rendered":"US over-the-horizon capabilities robust, but use requires \u2018strategic refinement,\u2019 experts say"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Aug. 29, days after a suicide attack that claimed the lives of 13 U.S. troops, the Defense Department carried out a drone <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/afghanistan\/2021\/08\/29\/us-drone-strike-on-isis-k-in-kabul-us-official\/\" target=\"_blank\">strike<\/a> it claimed intercepted a<b> <\/b>car bomb targeting Hamid Karzai International Airport. According to DoD officials, \u201csignificant\u201d secondary explosions confirmed a successful over-the-horizon strike on a legitimate target. But several civilians were killed in the attack, leading to questions about the Biden administration\u2019s aim to lean on an \u201cover-the-horizon\u201d approach to fight terrorism in places such as Afghanistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While over-the-horizon capabilities, such as drones and intelligence collection, have grown significantly over the years, Washington should lay out a specific counter-terrorism strategy before utilizing it, specifically in a place such as Afghanistan, experts told Military Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Prosecuting an over-the-horizon counter-terrorism campaign against ISIS-K in Afghanistan needs to be part of a larger strategic picture laid out by Washington, said Wes Bryant, former Air Force Joint Terminal Attack Controller. Without it, such operations in Afghanistan run the risk of \u201cus continuing down the road to nowhere.\u201d Further, strikes against ISIS-K would primarily benefit the Taliban, a group Bryant describes as having \u201csimilar\u201d goals to the Taliban with a \u201cnear-equal history of oppression, brutality, and atrocities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSo, before a real over-the-horizon campaign in Afghanistan is initiated, our leadership\u2014political and military\u2014need to really ask themselves, and answer to the American people, the one fundamental question: Toward what end?\u201d Bryant, who retired in 2018 as a master sergeant after 20 years in uniform, told Military Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An early example of an effective and targeted over-the-horizon strike occurred in 1986 when then-President Ronald Regan ordered airstrikes on targets in Libya. The strikes were carried out from as far as airfields in England and were in response to Libyan state sponsorship of terrorism, with the catalyst was a nightclub bombing in Berlin that claimed the life of a U.S. service member.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYou can go back to the Reagan strike in Libya,\u201d retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Robert Holmes told Military Times, \u201cIt looked like a bombing, but it was an over-the-horizon response to terrorism.\u201d Holmes spent his career commanding Air Force special tactics units, including directing the Inter-Agency Task Force at U.S. Special Operations Command.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This ability has only grown more robust over nearly three decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThere are a lot of aircraft that could conduct strikes being termed an \u201cover the horizon capability,\u201d Bryant said. \u201cReally,[over-the-horizon] is a new term for something we\u2019ve been doing for years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to Bryant, the beginning of the campaign in Iraq and Syria against ISIS in 2014 represents a further evolution in over-the-horizon development when DoD implemented \u201cstrike cells\u201d to run targeting operations. Advancements in signals intelligence collection, along with \u201cpersistent surveillance,\u201d enabled U.S. personnel to hit ISIS targets with relative impunity, often without personnel on the ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThere is nothing to say that JTACs on the ground will lead to better, cleaner targeting than in a Strike Cell,\u201d Bryant said. \u201cThe capabilities we have from our Strike Cells combined with the rest of our targeting and intelligence bodies are incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to Bryant and Holmes, OTH was on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2021\/08\/27\/isis-k-planner-killed-in-drone-strike-centcom-says\/\" target=\"_blank\">display<\/a> in Afghanistan before U.S. forces entirely withdrew from the country. On Aug 27, two ISIS-K militants, identified by the Pentagon as a \u201cplanner\u201d and a \u201cfacilitator\u201d for the terrorist organization, were killed in Nangahar province. This was followed by the Aug 29. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/afghanistan\/2021\/08\/29\/us-drone-strike-on-isis-k-in-kabul-us-official\/\" target=\"_blank\">strike<\/a>, which the Pentagon said was against a potential car bomb targeting HKIA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe president has made it very clear that we will maintain robust over-the-horizon counter-terrorism capability, the kinds of capabilities that you\u2019ve seen us use in just the last 24\/36 hours,\u201d Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defense.gov\/Newsroom\/Transcripts\/Transcript\/Article\/2762169\/secretary-of-defense-austin-and-chairman-of-the-joint-chiefs-of-staff-gen-mille\/\" target=\"_blank\">said<\/a> at a press conference on Aug 30, \u201cWe still have that capability. We will use that capability.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, according to experts that Military Times spoke to, there is still a degree of on-the-ground coordination required. Specifically, the need for local cooperation and basing, as while the range of drones and surveillance reach has increased, it is not infinite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Regional allies, said Bryant, such as the Gulf Cooperation Council, and other partners, should be able to provide bases from which drones and other over-the-horizon assets could operate, despite the increased distance now needing to be covered to get into the \u201cbattlespace.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOur modern drone fleet can provide flight times of 20 to 40 hours with persistent surveillance,\u201d Bryant said. \u201cYes, transit times will be long, but overhead times will still be considerable, and working overlapping flights is fairly standard with persistent overhead surveillance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Persistent overhead surveillance is critical for these kinds of strikes, as it enables a target to be precisely identified. Further, this constant \u201ceyes on\u201d allows operators to map out any civilian presence through a \u201cpattern of life\u201d analysis and pick a \u201cstrike weapon\u201d that minimizes the risk to civilians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A \u201cstrike weapon\u201d isn\u2019t strictly limited to drones either. Fighter jets can carry any number of munitions, or even B-52\u2032s and cruise missiles are available for an over-the-horizon strike. The key is that the target is verified by multiple independent pieces of intelligence with being able to have \u201ceyes on\u201d the target being the key.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, while Bryant and Holmes are confident that the U.S. has a robust ability to both identify and hit targets where there is little to U.S. presence, the idea of continuing operations in Afghanistan raises questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf our answer is because the Taliban no longer pose a threat to the security of the United States while ISIS-K does, well, I think that\u2019s very na\u00efve and short-sighted,\u201d Bryant said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While over-the-horizon capabilities have never been stronger, a larger counter-terrorism strategy is needed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":51411,"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":49,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[160,49,36],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3331],"class_list":["post-47436","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-techwatch","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"QI4LQERVOVFITACUOYFUKMRYW4","arc_canonical_url":"\/flashpoints\/afghanistan\/2021\/09\/07\/us-over-the-horizon-capabilities-robust-but-use-requires-strategic-refinement-experts-say\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>US over-the-horizon capabilities robust, but use requires \u2018strategic refinement,\u2019 experts say - Defense News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"While over-the-horizon capabilities have never been stronger, a larger counter-terrorism strategy is needed.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"US over-the-horizon capabilities robust, but use requires \u2018strategic refinement,\u2019 experts say\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"While over-the-horizon capabilities have never been stronger, a larger counter-terrorism strategy is needed.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/industry\/techwatch\/2021\/09\/07\/us-over-the-horizon-capabilities-robust-but-use-requires-strategic-refinement-experts-say\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Defense News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-09-07T19:11:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T14:43:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"James R. 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