{"id":41716,"date":"2018-03-27T16:53:35","date_gmt":"2018-03-27T16:53:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/03\/27\/afghan-a-29-pilots-drop-first-ever-laser-guided-bomb-in-combat\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T03:36:58","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T03:36:58","slug":"afghan-a-29-pilots-drop-first-ever-laser-guided-bomb-in-combat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/03\/27\/afghan-a-29-pilots-drop-first-ever-laser-guided-bomb-in-combat\/","title":{"rendered":"Afghan A-29 pilots drop laser-guided bomb in combat"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Afghan Air Force A-29s to destroy a Taliban compound in Farah with a GBU-58 laser-guided bomb on March 22.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

The Afghan Air Force dropped its first laser-guided bomb<\/a> in combat on a Taliban compound in Farah province<\/a>, Afghanistan, on March 22.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pilots dispatched a GBU-58 \u2014 a 250-pound laser-guided bomb \u2014 from an A-29 Super Tucano<\/a> light-attack aircraft<\/a> out of Kabul Air Wing<\/a>\u2019s Kandahar detachment. The Afghan Air Force has 12 A-29s, made by Sierra Nevada Corp. and Embraer, but will own a total of 25 by 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the pilots had both guided and unguided bombs, they opted for the laser-guided munitions to avoid collateral damage, given the target\u2019s close proximity to civilians, according to a statement<\/a> from Resolute Support Headquarters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe AAF has demonstrated again and again that their pilots, using the A-29 and the skills they have learned from our advisors and perfected through combat experience, that they can drop non-precision weapons within 10 meters of their targets,\u201d said Brig Gen. Phillip Stewart, Train Advise, Assist Command\u2014Air chief. \u201cThere are certain targets that require laser guided bombs and the AAF has shown it can accomplish that task now as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Resolute Support reported that the bomb resulted in a direct hit along the route of a major Afghan National Army clearing operation.
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The Afghan pilots gained their own airstrike capability more than two years ago, \u201cfirst with the MD-530 attack helicopter<\/a> in August 2015, followed by the A-29 Super Tucano in April 2016,\u201d according to Resolute Support. Afghan pilots now fly \u201caround 100 sorties each day, and around 10 percent are strikes.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In this photograph taken on February 24, 2014, an Afghan pilot walks near a military helicopter in Kunar province. At least 17 people, including 12 Afghan army soldiers, were killed on August 6, 2015, in a helicopter crash in the southern province of Zabul, officials said. The military helicopter went down due to technical reasons in Shinkay, a district relatively free of insurgent activity in Zabul. “Five crew and 12 soldiers were killed when the helicopter crashed in Shinkay district of Zabul province due to technical issues,” a provincial police official told AFP on condition of anonymity.AFP PHOTO \/ SHAH Marai<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In 2001, Afghanistan\u2019s Air Force was practically nonexistent, and NATO has spent billions of dollars to raise, train and equip the service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nurturing these capabilities is one of the keys to success in the country, according to Air Force Brig. Gen. Lance Bunch, director of future operations for Resolute Support.
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\u201cKey pieces that you’re seeing is that the Afghan Air Force itself, one of the more lethal organizations they have, and one that we’re looking to triple in size by 2023, is conducting significantly more air operations in direct support of the [Afghan National Defense Security Forces] on the battlefield, to the tune of 500 more sorties this year than they did the year before,\u201d Bunch said at a December 2017 news conference.
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