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Last week, Air Force Col. Eric J. Holdaway held a press teleconference from the Combined Air Operations Center at Al Udeid air base in Qatar, and provided details about the use of airborne intelligence in the recent successful U.S. airstrike in Iraq’s Diyala province killed a group of al-Qaeda fighters. The key to making this strike a success, especially when al-Qaeda hide within the general population, was the use of airborne intelligence combined with human intelligence. Check out the Washington Post’s article here.

According to Col. Holdaway, since mid-2007, overhead intelligence capability has tripled in Afghanistan and grown more than 150 percent in Iraq. In addition, the article estimates that there are 200 Predators and 30 Reapers, a newer version of the Predator, in the Central Command area.

The combination of the successful air strikes in the Diyala province, and the dramatic increase in air borne intelligence capabilities certainly reinforce that this type of intelligence gathering does work. What do you all think? Has the increase in overhead intelligence capabilities helped our efforts in that region?

Tags: Air Force Col. Eric J. Holdaway, Air strikes in Diyala province, Airborne intelligence, Diyala province, US Airforce