The real story here is that the USAF really, REALLY, REALLY hate doing anything that smacks of close air support. They have since the creation of the USAF.

It’s fighters, and strategic bombing, with perhaps a bit of tactical bombing that they want to do.

It’s embarrassing to do close air support. After all, some sergeant is telling an officer what to hit and where to drop bombs.

UAVs, Other Aircraft Being Misused, ACC chief Says

Jun 21, 2007

Michael Fabey/Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

Using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and pod-equipped combat jets to find improvised explosive devices (IEDs) is often a misuse of time and resources, said U.S. Air Force Gen. Ronald Keys, commander of Air Combat Command.

Often, requests for airborne surveillance are based on the assumption that such aircraft help find IEDs and save ground forces from such attacks, he said. Certain military leaders feel they need the full-motion video feeds to locate the explosives. The truth, he said, is much different.

Based on Air Force analysis, the number of IEDs found by UAVs, surveillance aircraft or combat jets outfitted with advanced targeting pods per 100,000 flight hours is very low, according to Keys. “It’s a waste,” Keys said June 20 during a morning keynote speech at the Transformation Warfare 07 conference and exhibit in Virginia Beach, Va.

“People come to me and tell me they want a Predator,” he said. “I ask, ‘What are you looking for?’ Tell me what you’re looking for, don’t just tell me you want a J-STARS.”

Unfortunately, the military is basing some of its decisions on anecdotes instead of real metrics, he said. Indeed, the only metric being used is whether the Air Force is meeting certain tasking orders, instead of making sure those assets and flights are effective and the best use of time and aircraft. “This is no way to fight a war,” he said.

Keys said ACC has developed a “concept of deployment” to help fight IEDs that is air-centric “to a certain point.” Without going into specifics, he said, “We ought to be attacking the system – to the left of ‘the bang,'” meaning the process before the IED is emplaced. What needs to be looked at is the network, “not the thing that’s buried out there,” he said.

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