The disclosure that the U.S. military is flying surveillance sorties over Syria to collect information on the Islamic State and identify potential targets means that one service's fleet is busy in the region, experts say.
The mission calls for a fleet that can best thwart Syria's advanced air defense systems, the threat of which led military leaders to argue against enforcement of a no-fly zone over the country last year. However, the Obama administration in late August directed the military to provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance on the movement of the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.
"The United States Air Force is the only outfit that has the ability to go answer these two questions of: What's going on on the ground, and what is the risk of our forces in the air space?" Rebecca Grant, president of Iris Research, said in a Sept. 4 interview.
The Air Force has three aircraft specially suited for this mission:
¦ The U-2 Dragon Lady, the 60-year-old manned, high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft designed to fly surveillance flights over enemy territory.
¦ The new, unmanned RQ-4
Global Hawk, which has specially suited optics for collecting surveillance from a high altitude.
¦ The secretive, stealthy unmanned RQ-170 Sentinel, which was designed for secretive reconnaissance in the Middle East.
"Together, they put together a pretty good picture ranging from regular and synthetic imagery up to electronic intel and maybe even video," Grant said.
The Associated Press reported in late August that President Obama authorized the flights, which will provide potential targets if airstrikes against Islamic State militants in Syria are approved. The Defense Department has been mum on the flights, with Pentagon press secretary Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby saying only that the department wants to "have as much information and as accurate information as you can possibly have."
"Anytime you're going to conceive of or prepare for military options, anywhere in the world for any number of missions, you're going to want to get as much information as you can," Kirby said Aug. 29. "You can expect ... if we get asked to do anything in Syria, to do it with as much information as possible."
U.S. officials have confirmed that Air Force and Navy aircraft, both manned and unmanned, have been flying dozens of surveillance flights across the border in Iraq every day. In Iraq, the Air Force has been using "nontraditional ISR," which means the military is flying both unmanned surveillance aircraft, along with fighters with ISR capabilities, such as targeting pods, Gen. Mike Hostage, commander of Air Combat Command, said in July.
However, the U.S. has permission from Iraq for these flights, whereas Syria has advanced air defenses, which could inhibit American operations.
Last year, many in Congress called on the administration to establish a no-fly zone over Syria as the civil war in that country raged. Defense officials, however, were quick to say that Syrian air defenses would make such an operation difficult.
Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, described these air defenses as "high end."
"I'm not saying we couldn't beat that system, but it would be a greater challenge, take longer and require greater resources," Dempsey said as the debate on the no-fly zone raged in Washington.
Kirby said Aug. 29 that the Defense Department has had "no change in our assessment of Syrian air defense capabilities."
With the administration asking the military to collect surveillance in Syria, that means the combatant commanders are "using everything they can get their hands on," Grant said.
The mission in this context is get "a picture of what's really happening on the ground," including both identifying possible targets and getting a sense of how dangerous the air space is.
Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Dave Deptula, former deputy chief of staff for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance who planned the air campaign for Operation Desert Storm, said the air defense system is an "added layer of complexity," but U.S. operations are hugely important to defeat the Islamic State.
"The self-proclaimed Islamic State presents the world with a moral crisis," Deptula said. "It can't be reasoned with; it has to be terminated."
An issue with attacking forces in Syria, however, would be the airstrikes possibly benefiting embattled Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, who is also an enemy of the Islamic State, also referred to as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
"Whether we like it or not, Assad would benefit from the U.S. attacking ISIL targets," Deptula said in a phone interview. "They have made rumblings or 'Well, you need to coordinate with us.' No, we don't. What we need to do is issue a démarche to the Syrian government saying: 'We're planning on operations in support of international efforts to contain ISIL. Any actions on the part of the Syrian government — aiming or turning on target tracking radars or any intercepts from your aircraft — will be regarded as hostile acts and dealt with accordingly.' "¦
Staff writer David Larter contributed to this report.
