Direct proof of use
U.S. Air Forces Central reported that the 74th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron at Bagram Airfield employed 2.75-inch rockets during A-10 combat operations in Afghanistan. The July 2009 account tied those missions to support for troops on the ground and described A-10 operations over Afghanistan under Operation Enduring Freedom.
A later U.S. Army aviation record documents the same rocket family in Operation Freedom's Sentinel. On 2017-04-25, DVIDS photographed Task Force Tigershark AH-64E Apache ground crews loading a Hydra 70 rocket at Jalalabad Airfield, Afghanistan, for a mission supporting Train, Advise and Assist Command-East and U.S. Forces Afghanistan.
Sources: AFCENT Flying Tigers Afghanistan, DVIDS Rocket Loading
Timeline
By July 2009, A-10s from the 74th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron had flown thousands of Afghanistan missions from Bagram and had employed hundreds of bombs, 2.75-inch rockets, and 30 mm rounds during the deployment.
In April 2017, AH-64E crews at Jalalabad Airfield were documented loading Hydra 70 rockets for missions during Operation Freedom's Sentinel. The DVIDS caption identifies the aircraft, the rocket type, the location, the supporting unit, and the Afghanistan mission context.
Sources: AFCENT Flying Tigers Afghanistan, DVIDS Rocket Loading
Narrative
The Afghanistan record shows 2.75-inch rockets as aircraft-launched fire-support weapons rather than independent ground systems. The documented carriers in the cited sources are U.S. Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft and U.S. Army AH-64E Apache attack helicopters.
For the A-10, the reported use fits the aircraft's close-air-support role. The Air Force fact sheet lists unguided and laser-guided 2.75-inch rockets among the A-10C armament options, and the 2009 AFCENT article places A-10 rocket employment within missions supporting U.S. and coalition ground forces in Afghanistan.
For the Apache, the DVIDS record is a fielding and mission-preparation record rather than a strike report. It identifies a Hydra 70 rocket being loaded for a mission at Jalalabad Airfield, while the Army Apache fact sheet identifies Hydra-70 2.75-inch rockets as part of the AH-64D/E armament package.
Sources: AFCENT Flying Tigers Afghanistan, DVIDS Rocket Loading, Air Force A-10C Fact Sheet, Army Apache AH-64D/E PDF
