I had to laugh at this video of a US airstrike against a group of ISIS terrorists on a hill outside Kobani in Syria. The militants have been fighting to take over the town for weeks, and its Kurdish inhabitants have been resisting for all they're worth. US air strikes have been helping them. In this case the terrorists were apparently standing in the open, looking down on the town, clearly about to charge down the hill in another assault. Unfortunately for them, someone (whether on the ground or in the air isn't known) saw them standing there and called in an air strike from a nearby US Air Force B-1 bomber, which unloaded half a dozen JDAM's on them (probably 2,000lb. Mk 84's with guidance kits, judging by the size of the explosions). I recommend watching the result in full-screen mode - but turn your volume down a bit.
What I particularly enjoyed was the giggle from a female voice after the bombs had gone off. Listen carefully and you'll hear it in the background. That's a giggle that says "You're not coming down that hill to attack us any more - you've got your own problems now, haven't you?"
I've heard a similar-sounding giggle from tribeswomen in the Angolan bush when we called in an artillery strike to stop an impending attack by Angolan government forces. It's a giggle that says "Not today you don't, Charlie!" as they watch the destruction of those who intended to kill them. There's a certain triumphalism involved . . .
(Note, too, the black-clad figure on the hill who starts running like hell when the first bombs go off. I reckon he left a brown trail behind him, and probably hasn't stopped running yet!)
That brought back lots of memories.
Peter
Peter, probably nothing you can do about it, but when I clicked on the link, the pop up says "this video contains content from afp, who has blocked it from display on this website".
ReplyDeleteAnyone can click on the link and watch it on youtube, but that's not the point.
@Grog: Yeah, I found that out too, but it's easy enough to click through to YouTube and watch it there.
ReplyDeleteI wish they'd disable embedding altogether if they didn't want us to link to the video . . . doesn't make much sense, does it?
ReplyDeleteDoes not seem very cost effective.
Anon, maybe not, but it's still impressive for those not on the receiving end. ;)
ReplyDeletePeter, I heard the giggle, that was a satisfied person, I'm thinking. ;)
Maybe not cost effective, put I much prefer my tax dollars at work that way than than scrapping (for 6 cents per ton!) 16 of the 20 C-27 transports we purchased for the Afghan Air Force after paying $500 million!
ReplyDeleteNoticed this in the JDAM wiki...
ReplyDelete"Despite their precision, JDAM employment has risks. On 5 December 2001, a JDAM dropped by a B-52 in Afghanistan nearly killed Hamid Karzai, while he was leading anti-Taliban forces near Sayd Alim Kalay alongside a US Army Special Forces (SF) team. A large force of Taliban soldiers had engaged the combined force of Karzai's men and their American SF counterparts, nearly overwhelming them. The SF commander requested Close Air Support (CAS) to strike the Taliban positions in an effort to stop their advance. A JDAM was subsequently dropped, but instead of striking the Taliban positions, it struck the Afghan/American position, killing three and injuring 20. An investigation of the incident determined that the U.S. Air Force Tactical Control Party (TACP) attached to the Special Forces team had changed the battery in the GPS receiver at some point during the battle, thereby causing the device to return to "default" and "display its own coordinates." Not realizing that this had occurred, the TACP relayed his own coordinates to the delivery aircraft."
Do these guys get a DotD of their own?
Yep gives truth to the old saw about s**ting and getting... :-) And that giggle was great!
ReplyDeleteThanks....you just made my day!
ReplyDeleteThe giggle sure sounded like somebody was relieved as all get out. Don't think the guy running down the hill will be bothering anyone anymore, looks like he fell down and was pretty close to the last explosion. Oh and from what I have heard the GPS transmitters now have persistent memory so it does not reset when the batteries are changed.
ReplyDeleteEd C
My Dad told me about the first time he saw a Spooky gunship in Vietnam.
ReplyDeleteHe said it came in and tilted to its side and had 3 mini guns that cut loose. he said it looked like lasers raining down.