Task Force ODIN: In the Valleys of the Blind…

IqAF King Air 350-ISR

In 2009, the Ottawa Citizen’s defense reporter David Pugliese reported that the US military was about to spend $100 million to upgrade the facilities at Kandahar, Afghanistan, in order to accommodate up to 26 aircraft for a local “Task Force ODIN”. At first glance, this might seem like just another infrastructure play – unless one realizes that Task Force ODIN (Observe, Detect, Identify & Neutralize) may be the second-most underrated fusion of technology and operating tactics in America’s counter-insurgency arsenal.

Task Force ODIN was created on orders of Gen. Richard A. Cody, the US Army’s outgoing vice chief of staff. Its initial goal involved better ways of finding IED land mines, a need triggered by the limited numbers of USAF Predator UAVs in Iraq, and the consequent refusal of many Army surveillance requests. Despite its small size (about 25 aircraft and 250 personnel) and cobbled-together nature, Task Force ODIN quickly became a huge success. Operating from Camp Speicher near Tikrit, it expanded its focus to become a full surveillance/ strike effort in Iraq – one that ground commanders came to see as more precise than conventional air strikes, hence less likely to create the kind of collateral damage that would damage their campaigns. From its inception in July 2007 to June 2008, the effort reportedly killed more than 3,000 adversaries, and led to the capture of almost 150 insurgent leaders.

With Secretary of Defense Gates paying particular attention to improving ISR(Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance) capabilities, replication in Afghanistan was inevitable. The coming construction at Kandahar marks the beginning of that effort.

• Drawing from the Well of Wisdom: Task Force ODIN in Iraq
  
• Additional Readings
  

EADS, Customers in Showdown Over Eurofighter Tranche 3

Italian Eurofighters

Fresh from brinksmanship around the go-forward plan for Europe’s multi-national A400M military transport, EADS has dived into another spat with European governments. The firm is reportedly threatening to suspend production of its 4+ generation Eurofighter Typhoon if the 4 consortium governments can’t firm up their promised 236 Tranche 3 orders by the end of Q1 2009.

Tranche 3 Eurofighters will be the most capable aircraft in the 3-stage program, with full strike capabilities built in, and desired additions that include an AESA radar. In 2008, EADS submitted a range of procurement options to the aircraft’s launch customers (Britain, Germany, Italy and Spain), with the intention of offering them flexibility by dividing promised Tranche 3 orders over time, adding new technologies in faster, smaller stages instead of in large chunks, and other options. Nevertheless, the member countries have yet to commit, and are now late. This situation is actually somewhat familiar, as EADS halted production for about 6 months between the Tranche 1 and Tranche 2 orders…