If they do, what kind of information/data is it? Just the audio of the pilot communicating with the ground, or do modern warplanes have functionality that keeps record of gps location and timestamp of dropped bombs?
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Im sure they do and I’m also confident the nature of that information is not made publicly available.
Yes the data is stored digitally. One reason for this, and one reason we know it is, is that cluster munitions have the potential to leave one or more submunitions unexploded, which then becomes a risk to civilians after the hostilities have ended.
At which time the US will know exactly when and where each of these munitions was dropped. So either we can go in and clean up, or we can hand that information to whoever the locals might be.
Yes, all strikes have a mission number associated (the flight), a target and an intent. Upon completion, there’s a determination of if the intent was met; verified with BDA (Battle Damage Assessment), either from the air or by boots on ground and if it was ultimately successful / intent met. The prosecuted target, the BDA and the associated grids are kept digitally in the on board system to update the enemy order of battle and likely on the knee board.
If enemy X has 39 main battle tanks and a fighting force of 900, and 3 separate airplanes cumulatively destroy 6 tanks and 35 combatants in one day – we update the enemy order of battle location and fighting force to 33 tanks & 865 combatants. This is non-myopic to strikes with or without a controller.
Attack helicopter pilot (and JTAC-I) here: yes, the information is recorded, but not automatically. The typical information is ordnance type, location, time of strike, and assessment of effects. Depending on the particulars of the mission, this information will be recorded by the aircrew and/or terminal controller and then will get reported via their respective intelligence sections.
Of course they do. Those bombs cost thousands of dollars. Each. Some cost tens of thousands of dollars, depending on their guidance system.
Every missile launched, every bomb dropped, every bullet fired has a cost/benefit analysis tied to it. Contrary to popular opinion, the actual cost of the operation is taken into account during mission planning.
For example, say you’ve spotted a radio transmitter that is acting as a relay for enemy communications up on the ridgeline and you want to take it out. Well, you could bomb it from above, but that costs dozens of manhours just to keep the aircraft operational, let alone the actual monetary value of the fuel, parts, and the cost the munitions themselves. Far cheaper to send a helicopter up there and blow it apart, right? Right, except the Apache isn’t cheap, either, as it is a specialized helo and *shits* through fuel (they’re heavy bastards), plus the 30mm cannon rounds are expensive as hell, even if they *are* cheaper than a Hellfire or Hydra. What’s the terrain look like? Can we just send a squad of dudes up there to rip it apart? Well, yeah, maybe, but not without top cover in case there are Bad Guys hiding in the crevices or operating out of caves, and if we’re going to have top cover we might as well use *it* to blast the relay tower apart. Keep in mind this is a home-built radio relay using probably $100 worth of parts, we don’t want to spend a million bucks to blow it up when they can just rebuild it two days from now. Is it in range of a mortar or artillery strike? Cool, let’s just do that, instead.
This is something movies fail to account for (except *Whiskey Tango Foxtrot* with Tina Fey and Billy Bob Thorton), as it isn’t the exciting part of warfare in the slightest, but there are *absolutely* battlefield accountants keeping track of all of the expenditures.
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