{"id":1734781,"date":"2022-11-11T06:30:17","date_gmt":"2022-11-11T11:30:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1734781"},"modified":"2022-11-11T08:04:45","modified_gmt":"2022-11-11T13:04:45","slug":"unconventional-delivery-of-u-s-airpower-in-the-arctic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/unconventional-delivery-of-u-s-airpower-in-the-arctic\/","title":{"rendered":"Unconventional Delivery of U.S. Airpower in the Arctic"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Funconventional-delivery-of-u-s-airpower-in-the-arctic%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1734781&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"inline-image align-\">\n    <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/rapid20dragon20202220dvids.jpg\" alt=\"A palletized munitions system falls from the cargo hold of a 352d Special Operations Wing MC-130J Commando II during a live-fire demonstration in Norway, Nov. 9, 2022.\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>\n            A palletized munitions system falls from the cargo hold of a 352d Special Operations Wing MC-130J Commando II during a live-fire demonstration in Norway, Nov. 9, 2022.  (Brigette Waltermire\/U.S. Air Force)\n          <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"storyline-p f4\">STUTTGART, Germany \u2014 U.S. special operations forces flying over the Arctic on Wednesday rolled a long-range missile out the back of a C-130 aircraft, dropping it by parachute before it blasted toward its target in the distance.<\/p>\n<p class=\"storyline-p f4\">The operation marked the first-ever demonstration in Europe of Rapid Dragon, an experimental program that uses standard air drop procedures to launch air-to-surface cruise missiles.<\/p>\n<p class=\"storyline-p f4\">\u201cIt puts this thing within range of Russia. We are intentionally trying to be provocative without being escalatory,\u201d Special Operations Command Europe\u2019s Lt. Col.\u00a0Lawrence Melnicoff told Stars and Stripes ahead of Wednesday\u2019s launch. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to deter Russian aggression, expansionist behavior, by showing enhanced capabilities of the allies.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"storyline-p f4\">The missile launch, carried out inside the Arctic Circle at Norway\u2019s Andoya Space Range, also showcases how allies can muscle up by mixing and matching weapons systems in new ways, Melnicoff said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"storyline-p f4\">It was the culmination of the Stuttgart-based SOCEUR\u2019s demonstration of American and allied units\u2019 ability to rapidly mobilize and deliver long-range precision fire over great distances.<\/p>\n<div class=\"inline-image align-center default\">\n    <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/101122NORWAYphoto03.jpg\" alt=\"Airmen load a Rapid Dragon deployment system onto an MC-130J aircraft ahead of an airdrop in November 2021 at Eglin Air force Base, Fla. Special operations forces deployed the system in a demonstration over the Arctic on Nov. 9, 2022.\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>\n            Airmen load a Rapid Dragon deployment system onto an MC-130J aircraft ahead of an airdrop in November 2021 at Eglin Air force Base, Fla. Special operations forces deployed the system in a demonstration over the Arctic on Nov. 9, 2022. (Air Force Research Laboratory)\n          <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"storyline-p f4\">The Norway exercise coincided with drills in Poland and Romania. They\u2019re all part of U.S. European Command\u2019s Atreus program, which aims to expand military options for allies.<\/p>\n<p class=\"storyline-p f4\">Similar missions have been held in the Baltics and Romania involving aircraft loaded with High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, which are flown to landing zones and offloaded for quick-strike targeting.<\/p>\n<p class=\"storyline-p f4\">Such operations are connected to planning for the worst-case scenario in the event Russia were to take aim at allied military hubs in Europe, said Melnicoff, who oversees Atreus for SOCEUR. <\/p>\n<p class=\"storyline-p f4\">\u201cIt complicates Russian decision-making because we know that they\u2019re targeting very, very large specific aggregations of allied power, &#8230; Ramstein Air Base, RAF Lakenheath, things like that,\u201d Melnicoff said. \u201cWe\u2019re survivable. If worse comes to worst and somebody takes out these power hubs, we can forward-project precision artillery fire across the alliance with our partners.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"storyline-p f4\">The Rapid Dragon concept has the attention of several allies, including Poland. While other allies don\u2019t have long-range bomber strike capabilities like the U.S., they can mimic some of those effects by loading long-range missiles onto cargo aircraft. <\/p>\n<p class=\"storyline-p f4\">The Red Dragon system uses a steel cage and can be loaded with Joint Air to Surface Standoff Missiles, which have a range of up to 1,200 miles depending on the variant.<\/p>\n<p class=\"storyline-p f4\">\u201cThe way it works is it drops out of cargo aircraft like a heavy equipment air drop, so it\u2019s completely a roll-on, roll-off package,\u201d Melnicoff said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"storyline-p f4\">After rolling out,  the cage stabilizes under parachutes. Then a sling gate opens and the missiles drop out.<\/p>\n<p class=\"storyline-p f4\">The system also has the potential to be paired with other types of materiel, including hypersonic weapons and swarm drones, Melnicoff said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"storyline-p f4\">The concept was developed by the Air Force, which has been experimenting with the idea for the past couple of years. <\/p>\n<p class=\"storyline-p f4\">Lt. Gen. Jim Slife, head of U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command, said experimenting with new ways to strike targets is key to preparing for an unpredictable future. <\/p>\n<p class=\"storyline-p f4\">\u201cAFSOC\u2019s greatest value to the joint force, as well as allies and partners, is when we find unconventional ways to deliver airpower,\u201d Slife said Wednesday in a statement. \u201cThe future is going to be different than what we have experienced for the last 20 years.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"inline-image align-center default\">\n    <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/101122NORWAYphoto01.jpg\" alt=\"A cruise missile is shown immediately after being dropped from an MC-130J cargo plane at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., in November 2021. Special operations forces performed a similar demonstration drop over the Arctic on Nov. 9, 2022.\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>\n            A cruise missile is shown immediately after being dropped from an MC-130J cargo plane at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., in November 2021. Special operations forces performed a similar demonstration drop over the Arctic on Nov. 9, 2022. (Air Force Research Laboratory)\n          <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A palletized munitions system falls from the cargo hold of a 352d Special Operations Wing MC-130J Commando II during a live-fire demonstration in Norway, Nov. 9,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1734784,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[547],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1734781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-bongino-report"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1734781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1734781"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1734781\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1734784"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1734781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1734781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1734781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}