Devil Soul
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US airdrops supplies in east Afghanistan
Akhtar Jamal
IslamabadFaced with severe winter and blockage of NATO supplies from Pakistan, the United States Air Forces began air dropping the supplies in eastern Afghanistan by using GPS-guided bundles.
According to United States Air Force news service Airmen from the 772nd Expeditionary Airlift Squadron successfully completed an airdrop mission to Combat Outpost Herrera in east Afghanistan.
The report added that C-130 Hercules, operated from the 451st Air Expeditionary Wing at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, airdropped 18,000 pounds of fuel to Oklahoma Army National Guard Soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 279th Infantry, using the Joint Precision Airdrop System (JPAS) while high above the reach of enemy weapons.
Under JPAS system once a bundle is launched from the aircraft, it is directed by an Autonomous Guidance Unit. While floating down to Earth, the AGU guides the bundle to a programmed point of impact much like joint direct attack munitions. However, Afghan Taliban say that at several earlier occasions the supplies landed in difference areas and in some cases were taken away by Taliban forces. Combat Outpost Herrera is 8,700 feet above sea level and the post is surrounded by mountains, trees and local national villages.
U.S. official report added that as the weather gets colder and snowfall begins at remote bases in high elevation areas, convoys become more dangerous and less reliable. A U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Denton Poe, 1st platoon was quoted as saying: Were surrounded by mountains the snow sets in.
The helicopter passes are impossible by helicopter and the roads could be clogged up, Utilizing airdrops with the GPS-guided parachutes allows us that avenue to use in case we cant get resupplied by helicopters or vehicles by the road, which is a typical case come winter here.
US airdrops supplies in east Afghanistan
Akhtar Jamal
IslamabadFaced with severe winter and blockage of NATO supplies from Pakistan, the United States Air Forces began air dropping the supplies in eastern Afghanistan by using GPS-guided bundles.
According to United States Air Force news service Airmen from the 772nd Expeditionary Airlift Squadron successfully completed an airdrop mission to Combat Outpost Herrera in east Afghanistan.
The report added that C-130 Hercules, operated from the 451st Air Expeditionary Wing at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, airdropped 18,000 pounds of fuel to Oklahoma Army National Guard Soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 279th Infantry, using the Joint Precision Airdrop System (JPAS) while high above the reach of enemy weapons.
Under JPAS system once a bundle is launched from the aircraft, it is directed by an Autonomous Guidance Unit. While floating down to Earth, the AGU guides the bundle to a programmed point of impact much like joint direct attack munitions. However, Afghan Taliban say that at several earlier occasions the supplies landed in difference areas and in some cases were taken away by Taliban forces. Combat Outpost Herrera is 8,700 feet above sea level and the post is surrounded by mountains, trees and local national villages.
U.S. official report added that as the weather gets colder and snowfall begins at remote bases in high elevation areas, convoys become more dangerous and less reliable. A U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Denton Poe, 1st platoon was quoted as saying: Were surrounded by mountains the snow sets in.
The helicopter passes are impossible by helicopter and the roads could be clogged up, Utilizing airdrops with the GPS-guided parachutes allows us that avenue to use in case we cant get resupplied by helicopters or vehicles by the road, which is a typical case come winter here.
US airdrops supplies in east Afghanistan
