With improved security in the country, the USAF has moved a small number of A-10A Thunderbolt Ils of the 74th Fighter Squadron from Pope AFB, North Carolina, into Bagram air base, Afghanistan. The aircraft come under the control of the 332nd Air Expeditionary Group at Bagram. Crew chiefs from the 74th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron are seen here preparing the aircraft for a mission on March 29, 2002 - note the derelict Afghan Air Force MiG-21s littering the background, most of them derelict for many years before the recent conflict.

A USN/CVW-7/VFA-131 'Wildcats' F/A-18C from the USS John F Kennedy refuels from RAAF/33 Squadron Boeing 707-338C tanker A20-629 during an Operation Enduring Freedom mission. Australia's contribution, dubbed Operation Slipper, includes two RAAF Boeing 707 tankers, which are operating from Manas, Kyrgyzstan, together with RAAF F/A-18As which were providing air defence around Diego Garcia, although the Hornets returned home on May 20, 2002.

A NATO Airborne Early Warning Force E-3A Sentry AWACS prepares to refuel during a sortie over the continental United States. In a historic ‘first’, NATO deployed five E-3As, plus one of its Boeing 707 TCA support aircraft, to the USAF AWACS base at Tinker AFB, Oklahoma, to provide US continental defence operations as part of Operation Noble Eagle, freeing up similar USAF aircraft for Operation Enduring Freedom. This was the first time in NATO’s 52-year history that any of the alliance’s assets had been used to help protect the continental United States. The first aircraft was deployed on October 9, 2001 under Operation Eagle Assist and the initial five E-3As were joined by two more in January 2002, following a request by US officials. With reduced requirements over Afghanistan, the NATO crews returned home with their aircraft on May 16 after clocking up 4,300 hours in over 360 sorties during their 220-day stay at Tinker.

A US NAVY/VP-4 P-3C Orion seen on March 19, 2002 at 'Camp Justice', an unspecified forward deployed location in use for operations over Afghanistan. Aircraft of VP-4 replaced those of VP-9, which were deployed during the early stages of the Afghan campaign. The role of the Orion in the war on terrorism has been little publicised, although it is known that the aircraft of VP-9 launched a small number of AGM-84E SLAMs against targets in Afghanistan during the opening stages of Operation Enduring Freedom. To enhance their strike, over-the-horizon targeting, C4ISR and survivability, P-3C Update III aircraft are being upgraded under the Anti-surface warfare Improvement Program (AIP). The first AIP aircraft was redelivered to the US Navy in April 1998 and some 50 aircraft have been completed to date. Their enhanced capabilities have proved invaluable in recent conflicts, their new electro-optical tracking suite being particularly useful in assisting ground forces. The AIP aircraft, of which VP-9 now has five and VP-4 has four, became the platform of choice to provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities for both land-based and sea-based operational commanders during Operation Enduring Freedom. The aircraft have been flying armed missions throughout their operations in and around Afghanistan, as evidenced by the aircraft seen here with two AGM-65 Mavericks underwing.

БПЛА "Предэйтор" с ракетами "Хеллфайр"
Although use of armed Predators is still in the development stage, the type made its combat debut in Afghanistan. Predator is capable of carrying two 100lb Hellfire missiles and the UAV was used in anger for the first time in Operation Enduring Freedom, during which over 40 Hellfires were reportedly fired.

A B-52H, with JDAMs on the wing pylons, over the Indian Ocean en route back to Diego Garcia after a mission over Afghanistan on March 23, 2002. Although the type undertook only 10% of the Operation Enduring Freedom missions, it carried 70% of the ordnance dropped. Each round trip took 12-15 flight hours, often involving extended stays over Afghanistan and covering up to 5,500 miles. These were not, however, the longest missions - during the first three days, six B-2As from Whiteman AFB, Montana, flew sorties of over 40 hours. In one case the mission lasted 44 hours, the longest combat sortie in the history of aviation. After leaving Whiteman and attacking targets in Afghanistan, the B-2As flew down to Diego Garcia, where they spent an hour on the ground, engines running, before departing with a fresh crew for the flight home of a further 30 hours. This resulted in the aircraft’s engines running continuously for more than 70 hours.

A sight unimaginable only a few years ago - a US Marine Corps F/A-18D from VMFA(AW)-121 ‘Green Knights’ at MCAS Miramar, California, taxies in at Manas air base, Kygyzstan, after arriving along with five others in mid-April to attack and destroy remaining targets in Afghanistan. In the background are three of the six French Air Force/EC.3 Mirage 2000Ds based there since February 27, 2002 for Afghan operations. It took four months to prepare Manas to support operations by the 376th Air Expeditionary Wing.

A US Navy/VFA-131 ‘Wildcats’ F/A-18C from CVW-7, embarked on the USS John F Kennedy, banks away during a patrol mission over the skies of Afghanistan on March 29, 2002. The aircraft was making the first combat carriage of the new GBU-32 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM), seen mounted under its starboard wing. Because of the distances involved in reaching targets in land-locked Afghanistan from the carriers, US Navy aircraft did not participate as much as they would otherwise have done, being at the limits of their ‘reach’ and having to make much use of tanker support. The USN did, however, still drop 25% of the weapons used in Operation Enduring Freedom, while precision weapons such as JDAM allowed use of a smaller number of aircraft undertaking fewer strike sorties.