The two specialists have at hand a range of electronic equipment to protect the aircraft and attack ground targets.
However, the fact that operators are often located far from the setting in which missions unfold helps explain both the high loss rates of early years and the collateral (unintended) damage that sometimes results from drone attacks on ground targets.
Trying to keep his constituency happy, he has railed against the United States for air and ground attacks on targets where women and children have been killed.
CNN: Documents give insight into increased violence in Afghanistan
The U.S. military confirmed U.S. and Iraqi forces fought militants on the ground and struck targets with what it termed "aerial fire, " but made no mention of casualties.
The range of the equipment is classified for military reasons, but a demonstration showed that a helicopter, so equipped, could hang back and be the eyes and ears of fighter planes battling ground or aerial targets around it.
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He therefore proposed a "middle way", asking Mr Hague whether he agreed that "one way forward is to place more reliance on Afghan forces, on our own special forces, even on buying Afghans, bribes, anything you like, rather than leaving combat forces on the ground as sitting targets".
While I am thrilled the money's there, I'm deeply concerned about how the money is skewing all the on-the-ground resources toward narrow targets.
In the final days - as we shall learn - Nato used drones, bombers, helicopters, electronic interference and special forces on the ground "painting" targets for the attack aircraft as the rebels closed in on the capital, Tripoli.
Some of those al Qaeda-backed fighters sought to use Somalia as a staging ground for attacks against foreign targets.
We already said that we will then transition to a NATO command and that our partners would take on a lot of the responsibility for the no-fly zone and striking targets on the ground.
Mr Milosevic has apparently decided that all Albanian communities are legitimate targets, on the (undeniable) ground that the Kosovo Liberation Army draws support from virtually every village.
That staging ground in turn enabled Iran to bomb Israeli and Jewish targets in Buenos Aires in the early 1990s.
The NATO documents show that some of the main reasons for the increase in violence is more U.S. troops on the ground and an increase in operational Afghan forces hitting insurgent targets around the country, but sanctuary in Pakistan by insurgent forces allow them to retreat and re-attack.
CNN: Documents give insight into increased violence in Afghanistan
On March 19, 2003, U.S. missiles and bunker-busting bombs dropped by air struck targets inside Iraq, paving the way for a ground invasion by U.S.-led forces the next day that eventually overthrew President Saddam Hussein's regime on April 9.
Cruise missiles and jet fighters work against fixed targets, concentrations of forces or heavy weapons on open ground.
Of course, as US drone operations in Pakistan again demonstrate, without a presence on the ground, you cannot have any certainty that you are attacking real targets.
Japan has also ordered 16 Lockheed Martin ground-based Patriot Advance Capability-3 missiles to protect critical targets and get a second shot at incoming missiles if the SM-3s miss.
Without a sufficient number of forces on the ground, the US would lose its ability to gather intelligence and so know what targets to attack.
After a stalled roll out of a new initiative forced you to recast your annual targets did you raise a PowerPoint deck above your head and slam it to the ground in front of your entire team?
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Other critics, such as Noel Williams, an adviser on strategy to the marine corps, point to the risk of escalation because of the dependence on deep strike against Chinese targets on land and to the absence of ideas about what happens without ground forces once a strike is made.
Startfor cites reports suggesting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has authorized the mobilization of ground troops toward the border with Gaza, which Stewart believes could be used to hit any remaining targets, whether they are people, materials, or rockets.
On the ground, Israeli troops continued to battle Palestinian fighters in Gaza City, while Israeli warships offshore bombarded Hamas targets, the IDF said.
It carries a host of satellite and laser-guided bombs and is able to remain over targets for long periods of time to assist in close-air support for troops on the ground.
While its tough to predict exactly how much value remains to be created around these more novel targets, its fair to say that if history is any guide it should make for fertile ground.
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Targets selected by the United States since the air operation began Sunday have included air defense facilities, ground-to-air missile sites, and command and control facilities of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban and the al Qaeda terror network.
The B-2 is capable of carrying nuclear weapons, precision bombs that could take out specific targets such as North Korean government buildings, and massive conventional bombs designed to penetrate deep into the ground to destroy North Korean tunnels and dug-in military positions.
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