The U.S.-led coalition rules the skies over Islamic State-held territory in Iraq and Syria as jets and drones unleash a daily dose of bombs and missiles on high-value terrorists and their trappings.
The terror army, also known as ISIL and ISIS, owns no air force and displays little in the way of air defense weapons.
But now the group is trying to close the gap with detailed instructions on social media on how to make a homemade weapon that the writer says could disable jet fighters.
The article was translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), which tracks jihadist web sites, social media and publications. This instructional was written by some one using the name Elias al-Jazrawi. It was produced by the Islamic State’s al-Wafa media company and posted on its Telegram and Twitter accounts.
Jazrawi suggests fighters target a plane’s antenna system using an electromagnetic beam, via a satellite link, that would, in theory, disrupt its complex suite of avionics, making the plane uncontrollable.
The article shows photographs of how to assemble a machine to emit such a beam.
“According to him, this machine could rely on some sort of electromagnetic pulse generator that is hooked up to a satellite dish, which he says will be used to focus the beam at the targeted aircraft,” says the MEMRI report.
Jazrawi, a regular Islamic State supporter on social media, has knowledge in physics and chemistry. He is likely a Saudi since “Jazrawi” is the name the terror groups gives to citizens of Saudi Arabia.
Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerney a fighter pilot in Vietnam and a critic of the Obama’s administration’s limited air campaign against the Islamic State, said the instructional article is pure propaganda.
“As they say it is theoretical and frankly just more propaganda to try and give the ISIS fighters some hope as the airpower is decimating them even though it is pathetically light,” Mr. McInerney said. “You can imagine if the administration took the handcuffs off by just using the Law of Armed Conflict. It would be over very quickly.”
The Law of Armed Conflict is a compilation of international laws that regulate the behavior of combatants in war.
Mr. McInerney is particularly incensed at the administration for not, as the war began last year, bombing ISIL’s oil tanker trucks, from which they derived tens of millions of dollars to runs its so-called “Caliphate” based in the city of Raqqa, Syria.
“It was a no-brainer target 17 months ago but they did not,” he said, “Why? It allowed ISIS to expand.”
Administration officials says they did not want to harm the environment and did not perfect a way to distinguish oil tankers from other types of tankers until recently.
The rules of engagement call on pilots to first warn the drivers and give them a chance to run away.
The administration has also put many targets in Raqqa off-limits and is leaving the electrical system on.
• Rowan Scarborough can be reached at rscarborough@washingtontimes.com.
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