Air power was crucial throughout the campaign. For example, from 2015 to 2019, Coalition aircraft dropped more than 112,000 munitions on ISIS targets. By late 2020, the Coalition had conducted more than 35,000 airstrikes.
Iraqi and US officials announced Thursday that America’s counterterrorism combat mission in Iraq had come to an end. From now on, the US military role in Iraq. 10.12.2021, Sputnik International
Air power was crucial throughout the anti-ISIS campaign.
Recently, the RAND Corporation released a report on the utility and importance of airpower in the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS). The RAND report offers some valuable insight on the benefits of airpower against an extraordinary terrorist organization.
By 2015, ISIS had devasted the Iraqi Army and was even threatening Baghdad. With more than 40,000 fighters, ISIS controlled key Iraqi cities in the Northwest part of the country, including Raqqa, Mosul, Fallujah, and Ramadi.
A US-led international Coalition (Combined Joint Task Force Inherent Resolve) worked with the Iraqi Army and other local partner forces, such as the Kurds, to drive back the Islamist terrorists. Through a combination of special operations and air power, the Coalition and its partners were successful, and the defeat of ISIS was capped with the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, its leader, during a Delta Force raid in Syria.