Rocky C
01-12-16, 05:23 PM
The air war against the Islamic State group has cost the American taxpayer $5.5 billion, roughly $11.2 million per day, a $2 million increase since June, according to the latest Defense Department data.
The Air Force accounts for $3.75 billion — nearly 70 percent — of that cost, about $7.7 million a day since the U.S. began launching airstrikes in August 2014.
More than 50 percent of the cost accounts for daily flight operating tempo: The Air Force in 2015, for example, conducted 21,000 sorties over Iraq and Syria, 9,000 of which included at least one weapons release, Air Forces Central Command statistics say.
The last two months have also seen an increase in airstrikes: In November and December, the Air Force for the first time during Operation Inherent Resolve surpassed over 3,100 dropped bombs.
“By the time we get to the end of 2016, I hope to be pretty well done with Daesh [the Islamic State group],” Lt. Gen. Charles Brown Jr, commander of U.S. Air Forces Central Command, recently told Air Force Times. “That’s probably aspirational, but I think we are putting pressure on Daesh.”
Most recently, the U.S.-led coalition on Monday blew up a warehouse in Iraq where the Islamic State held millions of dollars in cash, a defense official confirmed Tuesday.
In November, Inherent Resolve spokesman Army Col. Steve Warren said that munitions from A-10s and C-130s destroyed 116 tanker trucks in what the Defense Department has called Operation Tidal Wave II — a push to limit the Islamic State’s oil revenue.
The U.S. and its allies increased their targeting of the militant group's surplus following the Nov. 13 terrorist attacks in Paris, which killed 129 people. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attacks.
"This is our first strike against tanker trucks, and to minimize risks to civilians, we conducted a leaflet drop prior to the strike," Warren said Nov. 18. "We did a show of force by, we had aircraft essentially buzz the trucks at low altitude."
The Air Force accounts for $3.75 billion — nearly 70 percent — of that cost, about $7.7 million a day since the U.S. began launching airstrikes in August 2014.
More than 50 percent of the cost accounts for daily flight operating tempo: The Air Force in 2015, for example, conducted 21,000 sorties over Iraq and Syria, 9,000 of which included at least one weapons release, Air Forces Central Command statistics say.
The last two months have also seen an increase in airstrikes: In November and December, the Air Force for the first time during Operation Inherent Resolve surpassed over 3,100 dropped bombs.
“By the time we get to the end of 2016, I hope to be pretty well done with Daesh [the Islamic State group],” Lt. Gen. Charles Brown Jr, commander of U.S. Air Forces Central Command, recently told Air Force Times. “That’s probably aspirational, but I think we are putting pressure on Daesh.”
Most recently, the U.S.-led coalition on Monday blew up a warehouse in Iraq where the Islamic State held millions of dollars in cash, a defense official confirmed Tuesday.
In November, Inherent Resolve spokesman Army Col. Steve Warren said that munitions from A-10s and C-130s destroyed 116 tanker trucks in what the Defense Department has called Operation Tidal Wave II — a push to limit the Islamic State’s oil revenue.
The U.S. and its allies increased their targeting of the militant group's surplus following the Nov. 13 terrorist attacks in Paris, which killed 129 people. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attacks.
"This is our first strike against tanker trucks, and to minimize risks to civilians, we conducted a leaflet drop prior to the strike," Warren said Nov. 18. "We did a show of force by, we had aircraft essentially buzz the trucks at low altitude."