As the Iraqi Security Forces and Kurdish Peshmerga fighters continue to close in on Mosul on the ground, the U.S. and coalition are saturating the air above them and to the west.
At any given time there are 15-20 aircraft right over Mosul to gather intelligence and to be in place for airstrikes. Most of those aircraft are unmanned and controlled from the Combined Air Operations Center (CAOC) at a military base in southwest Asia.
Inside the CAOC military officials stare at a series of screens with full motion video from drone feeds and at maps showing where aircraft are operating in the region.
The drone feeds in the CAOC today displayed a range of subjects, from following a man as he loaded his vehicle, staying fixed on a compound, and even trailing a man speeding down a dirt road on a motorcycle.
One screen shows what the U.S. military calls the "donuts" over Mosul — the concentration of aircraft essentially flying circles over the city to gather intelligence and potentially conduct strikes. With the operation to re-take Mosul entering the assault phase earlier this month, much of the surveillance is focused on that area, and there is now a specific surveillance mission focused on the area west of Mosul to the Syrian border.
At any given time there are 15-20 aircraft right over Mosul to gather intelligence and to be in place for airstrikes. Most of those aircraft are unmanned and controlled from the Combined Air Operations Center (CAOC) at a military base in southwest Asia.
Inside the CAOC military officials stare at a series of screens with full motion video from drone feeds and at maps showing where aircraft are operating in the region.
The drone feeds in the CAOC today displayed a range of subjects, from following a man as he loaded his vehicle, staying fixed on a compound, and even trailing a man speeding down a dirt road on a motorcycle.
One screen shows what the U.S. military calls the "donuts" over Mosul — the concentration of aircraft essentially flying circles over the city to gather intelligence and potentially conduct strikes. With the operation to re-take Mosul entering the assault phase earlier this month, much of the surveillance is focused on that area, and there is now a specific surveillance mission focused on the area west of Mosul to the Syrian border.
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