UK Defense Ministry said it is doubling strike assets deployed to fight the ISIS in Syria. Defence Secretary said UK will bolster it...
UK Defense Ministry said it is doubling strike assets deployed to fight the ISIS in Syria.
Defence Secretary said UK will bolster its attack fleet with the additional deployment of 2 Tornado GR4 ground attack jets and 6 Eurofighter Typhoon swing role fighters to RAF Akrotiri base in Cyprus.
Currently RAF Tornado GR4 and unmanned MQ-9 Reaper UAV leads UK's attack against the ISIS as apart of the Operation Inherent Resolve.
The deployment will mark combat debut for the Eurofighter Typhoon against the ISIS in Syria.
Following the vote in the House of Commons last night, Royal Air Force Tornado GR4 aircraft flew their first offensive operation against Daesh terrorist targets inside Syria.
The mainstay of Daesh’s financial income is derived from exploitation of a number of oilfields that they hold. These are overwhelmingly located in Daesh’s heartlands in eastern Syria. Several of these oilfields have already been effectively targeted by other coalition partners; RAF aircraft and precision weaponry are well suited to attacking, with low collateral risk, this type of target.
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Overnight, RAF Tornado GR4s, supported by a Voyager air refuelling tanker and a Reaper, and operating in conjunction with other coalition aircraft, employed Paveway IV guided bombs to conduct strikes against six targets within the extensive oilfield at Omar, 35 miles inside Syria’s eastern border with Iraq.
The Omar oilfield is one of the largest and most important to Daesh’s financial operations, and represents over 10% of their potential income from oil. Carefully selected elements of the oilfield infrastructure were targeted, ensuring the strikes will have a significant impact on Daesh’s ability to extract the oil to fund their terrorism.
Coalition air operations have already degraded Daesh’s front-line military capabilities and have assisted the Iraqi ground forces in liberating some 30% of the territory that the terrorists initially seized in that country during the summer of 2014.
Image 1: RAF Typhoon fighter
Image 2: RAF Tornado GR4
