In order to keep an eye on the military situation on the ground, the US military would like to continue to use a version of the so-called combined situation awareness room, in which it coordinates with its Afghan colleagues (often via WhatsApp), passes on information and provides air support and other forces on the Battlefield. However, it remains unclear where the command center would be, with options like the American embassy or out of the country.
Although the Afghan Air Force has become increasingly powerful in recent years, American drones and other surveillance aircraft are still providing important target information. And although US strikes have been reduced under extremely restrictive rules of engagement, they still occur when international forces depart and Afghan security forces struggle to assert themselves.
US military officials believe the United States will deploy significant numbers of reconnaissance aircraft to continue to aid the Afghan armed forces, but will limit air strikes only to “counter-terrorism operations,” a loose description used in the past to denote one Justify variety of actions.
In the absence of bases to position aircraft near Afghanistan, American aircraft must fly from bases in the Middle East or from aircraft carriers in the Arabian Sea to support Afghan forces or conduct counter-terrorism missions from “over the horizon”.
For surveillance drones and propeller-driven aircraft, this means journeys of several hours just to get to Afghanistan.
For jets based on aircraft carriers, this means frequent refueling stops in the air. As US land-based jets leave Afghanistan, US forces struggle to meet demand for aircraft carriers as tankers have to refuel. Currently, the jets aboard the USS Eisenhower in the Arabian Sea can only handle around 75 percent of inquiries about Afghanistan, a military official said.
General Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., head of Pentagon Central Command, was asked by lawmakers last month about the challenges of countering terrorist threats in Afghanistan after American troops left is not impossible. “
