PAF drops JDAMs vs Abu Sayyaf
Congratulations to the Philippine Air Force for a job well done. Politically astute to let the PAF carry out the attack to mute any criticisms. The new jets and Super Tucanos will be a big advance over the OV-10 Broncos that carried out the attacks so we can look forward to more surgical strikes once the new aircraft enter the inventory. The US can remain silently in the background providing the esential tracking and targetting functions.
Philippines using US smart bombs | Sun.Star
Philippines using US smart bombs
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
MANILA — Concealed by the night sky, the two aging Philippine Air Force planes unleashed a surprise high-tech weapon: US satellite-guided bombs that whizzed down with deadly precision toward a long-elusive terrorist suspect and two other top radicals dozing with their men in Jolo Island's jungle.
The use of smart bombs, confirmed to The Associated Press by four senior Philippine security officials, marks a new chapter in the long-running battle against an al-Qaeda-linked movement in the southern Philippines, viewed by the US as a key front in the global effort to keep terrorists at bay.
Successive blasts shattered a hillside rebel encampment of Abu Sayyaf..Thermal imaging from a US drone, described by two of the senior officials, depicted the aftermath: Several slain gunmen lay amid a clutter of destroyed trees, huts and tents, while survivors pulled away the dead and wounded in the pitch darkness...
Philippine Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin praised "the carefully planned precision attack" in a statement days after the strike. The well-planned assault, he said, avoided the military casualties often incurred in ground raids.
"We were able to trace that they were all together at a certain time so that was the time to hit," Gazmin said. "So we took off early morning and bombed them, delivering four bombs. We were successful."
The Philippine military announced that a top Malaysian terrorist suspect, Zulkifli bin Hir, also known as Marwan, was among the dead, along with Singaporean martial arts instructor Muhamda Ali —whose rebel name is Muawiyah — and Abu Sayyaf commander Gumbahali Umbra Jumdail.Between nine to 15 militants were killed in the barrage but others quickly dragged away the dead, making it difficult to confirm who was killed, according to military officials.