NightWatch Puzzler. How would US forces use unpiloted aircraft for tactical support in a Korean fight in which the US would not have unchallenged control of the airspace? This is a question raised by Air Force Lt Gen David Deptula, the USAF intelligence chief, in multiple presentations. What would be the fall back resource for tactical intelligence collection?
The questions are not about North Korean air force capabilities, but about the tens of thousands of very effective shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles that have been used to shoot down off course US helicopters three times in the past 50 years. North Korea is useful in reminding folks that conventional war threats persist and make counterinsurgency look like choir practice.
NightWatch
NightWatch is an executive level intelligence recap drawn from domestic and international reporting provided free five nights a week via an informative email.
Mr. John McCreary is the NightWatch editor. John spent 38 years serving the Department of Defense Intelligence as a strategic analyst, most of that time in the Directorate of Intelligence (J2) office of the Joint Staff serving the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) and the Secretary of Defense.
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