Call in an Airstrike · 11:18am Jul 26th, 2016

The often-cited yet little understood act of dropping bombs in support of troops.

Fortunately, the US military publishes basic guidance, so for this blog I'll be referencing Joint Publication 3-09 Joint Fire Support and 3-09.3 Close Air Support. Before clicking the links, know that both are .pdf's of several hundred pages.

Close Air Support (CAS) is conducted by a plane, and the wider term of fire support also includes artillery, mortars, naval gunfire, etc. And of course, doing it jointly means more than one branch of the military is working together.

One of the first countries to extensively use aircraft to support ground troops was Germany during WWII. The United States was late to get in the game, but the Korea and Vietnam Wars led to a lot of standard practices figured out.

Marine Corsairs providing (very) close air support in the Pacific.

The guy on the radio asking for the strike is usually called the Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC), or sometimes a Forward Air Controller (FAC). FAC is a term more often used by other countries. In US service, a FAC often tends to be an officer, and also tends to be a pilot themselves. I've never seen a firm definition on the difference between JTAC and FAC. My best guess is that a JTAC controls bombs coming off planes and hitting targets, while a FAC also controls the wider picture of planes in the area.

FACs can be Airborne, usually a fighter pilot with extra training. FAC(A) can control their own attack or that of other aircraft or artillery.

But that's not to say someone unqualified can't call for air support. They're just required to state on the radio that they are not qualified. Sometimes, getting help is so important that it doesn't matter if there isn't a real JTAC present. The 3-09.3 says to use a secure radio if possible, however not to allow the nonavailablity of that hinder CAS, especially in emergencies.

In a normal situation, the Air Tasking Order allots aircraft to be ready for CAS. CAS works better if you already have air superiority, so attacking aircraft don't have to be looking over their shoulder all the time.

Upon reaching the operating area, aircraft doing CAS will check in. Check in involves passing their callsign, number and type of aircraft, weapons loaded, time they can spend on station before refueling, and sensors. A pilot who is FAC(A) qualified would also mention that.

When it comes time to actually strike the target, the JTAC passes a Nine Line. The same basic form applies to both artillery and airstrikes.

Note: a different kind of Nine Line is used for medical evacuation.

A Nine Line has the following format:
1. Initial point (a predefined location, usually a named point on the map)
2. Heading (IP to target)
3. Distance (IP to target)
4. Target elevation
5. Target description
6. Target location (lat/long, MGRS)
7. Target mark (laser, smoke, talk on, etc)
8. Friendly location (from target, direction and distance)
9. Egress (direction aircraft departs)

Additional remarks after the Nine Line would cover any threats or relevant information the pilot would need to know, a requested time to drop the weapon (if not ASAP), and may include a request for a specific weapon. The JTAC should know enough about weapons to have an idea what is required, but he and the pilot can work it out.

If using a laser for marking, the JTAC will provide the laser code so the weapon can seek it. However, it's not required because these days the airplane usually has its own laser to guide the weapon.

If the target is not otherwise marked, the JTAC will talk the pilot on. He'll call out a landmark near the coordinates and then give the pilot a direction and distance to look until he spots the target. Looking for a target gets way easier if the jet has a FLIR or other sensor pod.

The bombing location is said to be Danger Close if friendlies have a 0.1% chance of incapacitation. For a 500 pound dumb bomb, this is 245 meters.

The JTAC can request to drop danger close, especially if the enemy is closer than that and you're about to be overwhelmed. For that same 500 pound bomb, the risk of incapacitation rises to 10% at 105 meters. For a laser guided bomb that can be expected to have higher accuracy, the danger distances are almost cut in half. I'd still really hate to be within 105 meters of an exploding bomb.

What do you do if the weather is bad and the plane can't see the target? If the JTAC can get good enough coordinates, the plane can always drop a GPS bomb.

After the strike, the JTAC calls out the Battle Damage Assessment (BDA) and then requests reattack if needed.

The process is slightly different for fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft. Rotary, of course, tends to be lower and slower which puts them more at risk but provides a little better view of what's going on.

The Army uses a 5-line format for CCA (close combat attack, different than CAS for some reason), and because of this, the Army has no certified JTAC personnel. They usually borrow some from the Air Force if they need to control fixed-wing.

CAS is constantly changing with new technology. These days, a JTAC doesn't even need to be present on the ground. They can find targets and control strikers through a UAV camera. With the invention of guided weapons, even bombers can do close air support from high altitude.

Historical note: Which didn't stop B-52's from doing it in Vietnam. Carpet bombing is very accurate-the bombs are guaranteed to hit the ground. But in all seriousness, a good example is the Battle of Ia Drang depicted in the movie We Were Soldiers, in which 96 B-52 sorties were flown in support.

The Marines have the reputation of being the best at CAS. Not only do they focus on it more than the Air Force or Navy, but with the MAGTF concept, aviation is better integrated with ground troops.

An understanding of fire support makes my favorite greentext funnier (copypaste): http://imgur.com/gallery/5g37G9w

Get close.