MQ-9 Reaper

Counterterrorism Targeting – Head shots or Body Shots?

April 2, 2020 SOF News 0

By Thomas G. Pledger. Current United States counterterrorism strategy concentrates on retribution over network targeting. These different lines of effort, retribution and network targeting, compete for limited resources on an ever-expanding battlefield. Not only do these lines of effort compete […]

SF trainer in Panama explains ranger procedures to Panamanian counterterrorism security forces in Panama. (photo by SSG Osvaldo Equite SOCSouth, Jan 20, 2018).

Special Operations News Update 20180312

March 12, 2018 SOF News 0

SOF News Update 20180312 – 2003 JSOC raid into Iraq, intel in corporate world, some great SF photos, USSOCOM and ‘hard problems’, Britain’s WWII GW, conflict in Mali, Kurds shifting focus to invading Turkish forces, MQ-1 Predator to retire, 10th […]

CV-22 Ospreys of the 352nd Special Operations Wing (SOW) flying over England in August 2017. (Photo by AFSOC).

Special Operations News Update 20171204

December 4, 2017 SOF News 0

SOF News Update 20171204 – USSOCOM 2018 Fact Book, Metz on the demise of COIN, book review No Front Line, award for “Spooky 43” aircrew, more to do in Iraq, armed drones over Niger, SOCSouth cdr promoted, USASOC birthday, Mattis […]

10th Special Forces Group Soldiers riding a snowmobile during Winter Warfare training. (Photo from video by SSG William Reinier, 10th SFGA, Oct 25, 2017).

Special Operations News Update 20171030

October 30, 2017 SOF News 0

SOF News Update 20171030 – USASFC honors JFK, JIDO fighting drones, Operation Barkhane (France), inside story on death of SEAL in Somalia, militant groups in Niger region, SOFWERX drone rodeo, Kurds vs. ISF, Bowe Bergdahl, hybrid war in Ukraine, Kenya’s […]

3rd SFGA Training Botswana Troops (Photo U.S. Africa Command, September 21, 2017)

Special Operations News Update 20171010

October 10, 2017 SOF News 0

SOF News Update 20171010 – Military – media interaction, NATO in the Black Sea, podcast on drones and JSOC, U.S. military in Lake Chad Basin area, Erik Prince entering politics, CANSOF in Iraq, Russia and the disinformation war in the Baltic […]

CV-22 Osprey aircraft in flight over Sweden during Aurora 2017 exercise. (Photo by SGT Aaron Duncan, SOCEUR, Sep 14, 2017)

Special Operations News Update 20171009

October 9, 2017 SOF News 0

SOF News Update 20171009 – AFSOC’s MQ-9, expansion of Afghan SOF, Gulf War games halted, CBS’s SEAL Team drama, Iraq after glow, hacking phones in Eastern Europe, FM 3-0 update, senior mil ldrs as advisors, Kurdish independence vote, Hawija liberated, […]

MQ-9 Reaper on flight line at Creech Air Base, Nevada. The RPA can carry four AGM-114 Hellfire missiles and two 500-pound bombs. It can fly for a 18-24 hour mission. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Christian Clausen).

Drones – News Reports, Papers, and Publications

December 29, 2016 SOF News 0

Drones Update 20161229 – U.S. supplied drones in Ukraine are disappointing, drone tactics in Afghanistan, counter-drone challenge, low morale and training of drone pilots, and more. Not a Good Job – Piloting Drones. “The U.S. Army and the Air Force both […]

Destroyed ISIL oil tankers. (Photo by SSgt Charles Rivezzo, U.S. AFCENT Public Affairs, Dec 8, 2016). Targets were struck based on intel from the Target Fusion Cell.

CENTCOM’s Target Fusion Cell (TFC)

December 22, 2016 John Friberg 0

The newly-established Target Fusion Cell (TFC) works within the Combined Force Air Component Command (CFACC) in the CENTCOM Area of Responsibility (AOR). The Target Fusion Cell is “. . . an integrated cell of intelligence analysts, targeting experts and intelligence, surveillance […]

RQ-7B Shadow TUAS

RQ-7B Shadow TUAS – Flight Demonstration Video

December 2, 2016 SOF News 0

During the later stages of the Afghan conflict the U.S. Army brigade combat teams (BCTs) and U.S. Army Special Forces deployed with their RQ-7B Shadow drones. The Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System (TUAS) provided real-time reconnaissance, communications relay, and assisted in […]