A-10 Warthogs return to Afghanistan.

An A-10 deployed to Kandahar Airbase. Reuters. 

A squadron of A-10 Thunderbolt II "Warthogs" ground attack planes has been deployed to Afghanistan. Reuters. The A-10's are being redeployed to counter Taliban advances and to strike at their drug operations. The jets have already attacked Taliban targets. The rate of airstrikes in Afghanistan has increased dramatically under President Trump with 2017 seeing 4000 bombs being dropped on the Taliban and ISIS. In addition, MQ-9 Reaper drones have been deployed to beef up surveillance efforts as well. Since the end of US combat operations in 2014, the Taliban has taken over 40% of the country while ISIS has made inroads as well. 

My Comment:

Looks like we are shifting focus from Iraq and Syria towards Afghanistan. This squadron of A-10's was deployed in Turkey and was being used to target ISIS fighters in both countries. As the war dies down in Syria and Iraq and targets become scarce, it makes sense to withdraw the aircraft from Turkey, especially as relationships with Turkey are getting more strained. 

I've been sounding the alarm on Afghanistan for quite some time. The truth of the matter is that we are losing the war. The Taliban has taken over much of the countryside and regularly attack Kabul. ISIS has been making inroads as well and the country is in chaos. The Afghan Army has been taking massive, unsustainable casualties and insider threats are common. 

That fact prompted a change of strategy as soon as Donald Trump got elected. Part of that strategy was targeting the Taliban's opium production. We have destroyed some of their manufacturing capacity but they still have quite a bit of production capacity. Since they use the profits to fund their campaigns, destroying them is helpful.

Can the A-10's help with that? Sure. They are ground attack aircraft and can utterly destroy pretty much anything on the ground except hardened defenses. There isn't much that can withstand an A-10 airstrike and I am sure a drug lab or warehouse isn't among them. 

The A-10's will also excel in their main role, which is combat air support. One on one the Afghan Army and Taliban military are pretty much equal. The Afghan soldiers are better equipped but the Taliban are less corrupt. The addition of airpower helps the Afghans quite a bit and could be enough to turn the tide. 

The A-10's will also back up the Afghan's own native airpower. Afghanistan has been given around 20 A-29 Super Tucano light attack aircraft. These prop planes are essentially a much weaker version of the A-10's but with their fleet so small and their pilots so inexperienced that they could use the backup. Having more options in the air can help in those situations where everything goes to hell at once. 

As for the A-10's it's good to see these venerable aircraft be used. The Air Force hates the planes for some reason and wants them shut down but I feel as long as we still have them we might as well still use them. They are very powerful and effective aircraft and it will be a sad day when the last one is retried.

I don't think they will be the end all be all for the war in Afghanistan though. Loosening the rules of engagement and targeting the Taliban where it hurts, their opium operations, will do much more than a single squadron of fighters, even if those jets are extremely capable. Afghanistan has been a mess for years and it would be a mistake to think that one squadron could change it around. That being said, it won't hurt things and seeing the A-10's in the air again alone will hurt enemy morale.