Direct proof of use
Official U.S. military imagery documents Hydra 70 rockets in Afghanistan during the post-2015 phase of the war. On April 25, 2017, DVIDS photographed U.S. Army AH-64E Apache helicopter ground crews from Task Force Tigershark loading a Hydra 70 rocket at Jalalabad Airfield for a mission.
The same caption identifies the unit as assigned to the 16th Combat Aviation Brigade, 7th Infantry Division, and places the mission under Train, Advise and Assist Command-East and U.S. Forces Afghanistan during Operation Freedom's Sentinel.
Sources: DVIDS Rocket Loading, Army Task Force Tigershark Photo Essay
Mission context
Operation Freedom's Sentinel began on January 1, 2015. The Lead Inspector General described the mission as two complementary U.S. lines of effort: counterterrorism operations against al-Qaeda, Islamic State-Khorasan, and affiliated groups in Afghanistan, and training, advising, and assisting Afghan security forces through NATO's Resolute Support Mission.
The April 2017 Hydra 70 record fits that mission framework as an aircraft-armament and mission-preparation record rather than a public strike report. It identifies the munition, aircraft type, operator, location, date, and command context, but does not identify a target or battle damage.
Sources: Lead IG Operation Freedom's Sentinel, DVIDS Rocket Loading
Aircraft-launched fire support
The Hydra-70 is the later system configuration of the 2.75-inch Folding Fin Aerial Rocket family. A U.S. Army account describes the system as a rocket motor fitted with different warheads and a lightweight launcher, with air-to-ground tactical roles and recent contribution in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In Afghanistan, the cited direct record places Hydra 70 rockets on U.S. Army AH-64E Apache operations from Jalalabad. The parent Apache record and related 2.75-inch rocket records show the same incident as part of a broader aircraft-launched fire-support pattern, but this usage page limits its direct Hydra-70 claim to the photographed loading and mission context.
Sources: More Hydra-70 Rockets On Way, DVIDS Rocket Loading
