[Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Richard] Cody unveiled a video tape – declassified for the press briefing -- of what he says is an example of responsive reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition (RSTA) processes in Iraq resulting from the knitting together of the elusive Task Force ODIN [reconnaissance] assets and the tried and true Apache attack helicopter...
Though he declined to identify all asset parts of ODIN, he confirmed our earlier report of modified C-12s [turbo-prop planes] , fixed-wing UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] and other sensors.
The video opens with a group of individuals – deemed insurgents -
displayed in the Apache's forward-looking infrared sensor. They are grouped along a known Army convoy route in Iraq, the general says. The insurgents are within audible range of the helicopter and take shelter under nearby palm trees, though they are clearly visible in the infrared. The Apache, having been spotted, returns to base to refuel.
The targets, however, are handed off to an Army Shadow and Block 0
Warrior [UAVs]... At this point, officials in the Tactical Operations
Center witness the individuals planting suspected IEDs. Upon target confirmation, an Apache is dispatched to the location with precision coordinates and engages the individuals with its Hellfire missiles.
The explosion on the infrared is large, the result of a direct hit by the Hellfire to the IED, Cody says. The individuals disperse, and
Cody switched the video off before the Apache attacks them directly with gunfire. The net result of the engagement: an Army convoy was rerouted to avoid the hostile activity as the Apache engaged.
