The chaos and tragic loss of U.S. life during the U.S. pullout of Afghanistan not only leaves grief, confusion and uncertainty but also raises some extremely significant unanswered questions about what kinds of military assets and missions might still be needed in the region.
Intelligence, Reconnaissance and Surveillance (ISR)
Certainly Intelligence, Reconnaissance and Surveillance is not going anywhere and will if anything possibly increase given the risks posed by Al Qaeda, ISIS-K and the Taliban. The U.S. plan to remove any kind of conventional ground-force presence does not likely mean that surveillance and intelligence missions, coupled with the possibility of long range strike, will disappear completely.
In fact, by contrast, without a standing ground force, ISR might take on even more urgency as U.S. commanders will of course want to remain vigilant about terrorist activity in a Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
Interestingly, this may mean that the U.S., CENTCOM and U.S. allies are likely to continue if not expand high-altitude, long-endurance drones such as the Air Forces’ Global Hawk and some smaller fixed-wing manned surveillance planes.
While the Air Force is upgrading and transitioning many of its Global Hawks into a major power warfare mission framework, the aircraft also offer a distinct, if not unparalleled advantage for counterterrorism efforts in places like Afghanistan. Certainly there will be a continued pressing need for ISR as the U.S. NATO and other coalition allies maintain vigilance about terrorist activities.
