by DAVID AXE
Thousands of U.S. Marines, pictured, are on the offensive in southern Afghanistan, around Kandahar. British forces launched supporting attacks, beginning last week. A British colonel — the commanding officer of his tank unit — was killed when his lightly armored Viking vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb. Rupert Thorneloe’s death highlights the ongoing shortage of adequately protected armored vehicles in British service. While the American buy thousands of so-called Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected trucks, the Brits keep experimenting with lesser designs, that get their people killed.
A huge air-assault began the offensive. The Marines relied on Army helicopters to support the assault, rather than their own V-22 Osprey tilt-rotors. Blogger Galrahn believes the problem is not that the V-22 is too fragile or lightly protected, as some critics claim, but that the Marines haven’t come up with a good, working doctrine for using the speedy aircraft, in a combat zone.
(Photo: DoD)
Related:
In Afghanistan, Germans Hamstrung by Strict Rules
U.S. Comes around to Dutch Way of Thinking, on Afghan Poppies
Obama Administration Mum on Civilian Dead in Drone Strikes
Afghanistan, by the Numbers
Afghan Reserve Police = Tribal Militia, Redux?
Afghan Super-Bases Undermine U.S. Strategy?
World Politics Review: In Afghanistan, U.S. Experiments Again with Tribal Militias
Kandahar = “Black” Plane Playground?
As with Iraq, Brits Losing Afghanistan?
World Politics Review: Pakistan Drone Campaign Might Expand, Despite Risks
No related posts.
They didn’t use Ospreys because there aren’t any in theater yet. There are only 4 squadrons completely transitioned, 1 is deployed on MEU, 2 are on dwell time, and the last just became mission capable. They will be there in the fall.
[...] Related: British Colonel Latest Casualty in Afghanistan Offensive In Afghanistan, Germans Hamstrung by Strict Rules U.S. Comes around to Dutch Way of Thinking, on Afghan Poppies Obama Administration Mum on Civilian Dead in Drone Strikes Afghanistan, by the Numbers Afghan Reserve Police = Tribal Militia, Redux? Afghan Super-Bases Undermine U.S. Strategy? World Politics Review: In Afghanistan, U.S. Experiments Again with Tribal Militias Kandahar = “Black” Plane Playground? As with Iraq, Brits Losing Afghanistan? No Comments so far Leave a comment RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI Leave a comment Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong> [...]
[...] While much U.S. media attention has been paid to the USMC offensive in Helmand, a.k.a. “Operation Khanjar,” the British contribution to the escalating fighting in southern Afghanistan has been widely overlooked, by Americans. British forces have been at the tip of the spear in Helmand since 2006, enduring some of the heaviest fighting of the war. The Marines are a relatively recent addition to the struggle in the province. [...]