F-15 fighter pilots, weapons officers, and ground crew who participated in the mission described feeling overwhelmed during the US Air Force's first real test against a large-scale, sustained drone strike, the Beirut-based Al Mayadeen news network reported, citing CNN.
The F-15 fighter planes' primary weapon against the drones, air-to-air missiles, were quickly depleted during the mission, as the F-15E Strike Eagle can carry only eight missiles at a time. "We ran out of missiles quickly...20 minutes, maybe," said Lt. Col. Curtis "Voodoo" Culver, an F-15 pilot.
The operation turned out to be far more intense than the US military had anticipated.
AMK/PR