Fri, Dec 04, 2009
Newest Air Force Recon Aircraft Has Helped Capture High-Value
Terror Suspects
Members of the 362nd Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron
serving at Joint Base Balad in Iraq recently reached 1,000 combat
sorties in the MC-12W aircraft only five months after arriving
in-theater. Currently operating only at Joint Base Balad, the MC-12
is one of the Air Force's newest platforms for intelligence,
surveillance and reconnaissance. It's not just an eye in the sky,
it also serves as a complete collection, processing, analysis and
dissemination system.
The modified aircraft system consists of sensors, a ground
exploitation cell, line-of-sight and satellite communication
datalinks, and a robust voice communications suite, all with
manpower for 24-hour operations. "We can have a ground unit talk
directly to a sensor operator who's on board," said Senior Airman
Robert Laxton, a 362nd ERS cryptologic operator. "From that sensor
operator, we have imagery analysts on the ground who can send out
products, almost instantaneously, to ground users and ground
supporters."
Providing real time, full-motion video, the Liberty is designed
to augment other downrange intelligence-collecting capabilities and
help military leaders make battlefield decisions. The aircraft
submits the video to relay nodes distributed throughout the
country. Those nodes then push the video to forward-deployed ground
forces.
Since they started flying in-theater, the 362nd ERS combat
sorties have aided in the capture of 12 high-value individuals and
helped discover three weapons caches. And for the entire cumulative
time MC-12s have provided overwatch, friendly ground forces
suffered zero casualties. The success of the MC-12 mission leads
its operators to believe it could soon be employed in support of
Operation Enduring Freedom. "I project we'll go over to
(Afghanistan) too and do the same stuff over there," said 1st Lt.
Mark Finnegan, a MC-12 pilot and part of the four-person aircrew.
"We would continue helping to gather intelligence and protecting
the troops."
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