US air raids top 1T vs. IS in Iraq, Syria

USS EISENHOWER, Persian Gulf—One after another, fighter jets catapult from the flight deck of the USS Eisenhower, a thousand-foot (305-meter) American aircraft carrier, after-burners glowing amber above the blue Persian Gulf, on their way northwest to join the fight in Iraq and Syria against the Islamic State.

The fighter jets refuel on the way before receiving from coalition partners targets, like convoys, hideouts and mortar positions in IS-controlled territories, such as Mosul and Raqqa, said Rear Adm. James Malloy, commander of the Eisenhower carrier strike group.

From his office aboard the USS Eisenhower, Malloy described coalition success around Mosul while cautioning that victory is close at hand.

“Mosul is the last large city in Iraq that is held by Daesh, but Daesh is by no means finished in Iraq, so our mission in Iraq won’t end as Mosul falls,” he said, using the Arabic acronym for IS.

While inter-coalition coordi- nation was “seamless,” communication with Russia was limited to “deconfliction,” Malloy said.

“There’s no coordination there because the goals are not the same,” the admiral said.

The carrier’s captain Paul Spedero said sorties from the Eisenhower have dropped nearly 1,100 bombs on IS targets since June when the ship entered the Persian Gulf after launching strikes from the eastern Mediterranean.

The ship’s 5,200 sailors arm, repair, launch and recover 7-20 Super Hornet F18 fighter jets every day that drop on average 10 bombs each or reconnoiter in support of anti-IS coalition forces.

The crew catapults the jets from the ship at 145mph, and they use a hook and cable to rapidly catch the fighter jets on the 500foot long carrier deck.

“For a catapult shot, if you think about a Porsche 911, zero to sixty in about 2.5 seconds, these aircraft will go from 0 to 145 miles per hour in 2.5 seconds,” said commander Jeremy Rifas.