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NEWS RELEASE
HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND
7115 South Boundary Boulevard
MacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101
Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894

August 20, 2004
Release Number: 04-08-68


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


AIR COMPONENT DATA

COMBINED AIR OPERATIONS CENTER - In Operation IRAQI FREEDOM, Coalition aircraft on Aug. 19 flew 50 strike sorties in Close Air Support (CAS) for Main Supply Routes (MSR) and Alternate Supply Routes (ASR), and for Troops in Contact (TIC) situations.

U.S. Air Force F-16s, U.S. Navy F/A-18s and U.S. Marine AV-8s provided close air support to Coalition troops in contact in separate engagements in the vicinity of An Najaf. F-16s expended 4 GBU-12s and 2 JDAMs. AV-8s and a MQ-1 Predator also conducted a strike against an enemy multiple rocket launch system, expending 1 Maverick missile and 1 Hellfire missile respectively. MQ-1 (Predator) expended 1 Hellfire missile against a mortar firing position.

U.S. Air Force F-16s and U.S. Navy F-14s and F/A-18s provided close air support to Coalition troops in contact in the vicinities of Al Amarah, Sadr City and Baghdad with no weapons expended.

Strike sorties were also dedicated to convoy security on MSRs and ASRs, using the aircrafts' electro-optical and infrared sensors to monitor for unusual activity.

Twenty-one U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, Royal Air Force and Royal Australian Air Force aircraft in OIF flew ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) missions, including tactical reconnaissance, Predator, and U-2 aircraft.

In Operation ENDURING FREEDOM, Coalition forces flew 16 strike sorties.

A U.S. Air Force B-1B and A-10s provided close air support to Coalition troops in contact in the vicinities of Khowst, Farah, Changhcharan and Deh-I-Zangi with no weapons expended.

Five U.S. Air Force aircraft in OEF flew ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) missions, including tactical reconnaissance, U-2 aircraft, Global Hawk and Predator.

U.S. Air Force C-130s flew 128 airlift sorties supporting Central Command operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. They moved nearly 1,900 passengers and 384 short tons of cargo.

Other airlift sorties in support of either OIF or OEF were flown by C-130 crews from the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan and Canada.

On Aug. 18, U.S. Air Force and Royal Air Force tankers flew 42 sorties and offloaded nearly 2.3 million pounds of fuel.

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