The nature of the war in Afghanistan has caused a tremendous number of air drops to be made in order to resupply the troops serving there. The air drop was made famous during WWII when US paratroopers behind enemy lines had to be resupplied.
The purpose of the air drop is to resupply troops who are located behind enemy lines or who are otherwise cut off from friendly supply lines. There are many reasons that this method is used but in Afghanistan it is not so much because the troops are cut off as it is because the tactical situation dictates it.
First of all the terrain in Afghanistan is rugged which makes resupply by vehicle convoy tough. In most cases it is probably easier to just fly over the target area and drop the supplies.
This is normally necessary to use to resupply our light infantry ring customers and our special operations ring customers. When you have heavier mechanized forces they generally don’t need to be resupplied in this fashion because the amount of cargo needed would be prohibitive and the mechanized forces can be easily reached overland.
there are few good roads in Afghanistan, and the few roads that are there are easily ambush sites for terrorists because the terrain is so restrictive. Every war is different and this one is definitely one of a kind.
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