Updated: Operational update
Latest update Tuesday 24 May – Tornados, Typhoons and a Reaper supported Iraqi ground forces around Fallujah, Qayyarah and Bayji, destroying three Daesh positions and three weapon stockpiles. Wednesday 25 May – Typhoons provided close air support to Iraqi troops in the area between Ramadi and Fallujah, hitting a bunker, an artillery piece and two positions including a machine-gun team. Thursday 26 May – Typhoons continued to support operations in the Fallujah area, and eliminated a team of suicide bombers north of Baghdad, while Tornados struck Daesh positions and a tunnel near Mosul. Friday 27 May – Typhoons and a Reaper provided further intensive support around Fallujah; Tornados also destroyed a truck-bomb near Hit and a mortar team near Mosul. Sunday 29 May – Tornados attacked a terrorist vehicle near Hit, Typhoons struck a mortar and truck-bomb near Mosul. Monday 30 May – Tornados conducted attacks on two improvised explosive device factories in northern Syria, as well as Daesh extremists near Mosul; Typhoons attacked terrorist positions around Mosul and Fallujah. DetailA Royal Air Force Reaper remotely piloted aircraft patrolled near Bayji on Tuesday 24 May, where Daesh terrorists were engaged in combat with Iraqi forces. The Reaper used one Hellfire missile to destroy an artillery gun that was firing on the Iraqi troops, it then used a second Hellfire to break up an attempted Daesh attack along a gully. In northern Iraq, Tornado GR4s attacked a Daesh-held building near Qayyarah with a Paveway IV guided bomb. With the Iraqi offensive to liberate Fallujah well under way, a pair of Paveway-armed Typhoons provided close air support west of the city, where they destroyed three stockpiles of terrorist weapons and ammunition.
Typhoon operations west of Fallujah continued on Wednesday 25 May, when they patrolled the area leading to Habbaniyah and on to the outskirts of Ramadi. They conducted a series of Paveway IV attacks, accounting for two Daesh positions, including a heavy machine-gun team, as well as an artillery piece and a bunker.
They returned to the same area the following day, hitting an ammunition cache that had been spotted near the destroyed bunker. They then struck a building north-east of Fallujah where a large group of terrorists had been reported massing for a counter-attack. In the north, Tornados bombed two terrorist-held buildings and a tunnel near Mosul. Later in the day, a Typhoon flight was tasked with eliminating a group of suicide bombers who had been spotted north of Baghdad, preparing for an attempted diversionary attack on the security cordon around the city; a Paveway IV demolished the building in which they were hiding.
Friday 27 May again saw intensive air operations along the Euphrates valley around Fallujah and the wider area. Typhoons silenced two sniper teams with Paveway strikes, then intervened in a closely fought combat between Iraqi troops and Daesh near Habbaniyah; particular care and precision was needed to avoid causing casualties to the Iraqi forces, but three successful Paveway attacks were accomplished. A second Typhoon flight destroyed a light anti-aircraft gun that was firing on Iraqi personnel near Hit, whilst a pair of Tornados used a Brimstone missile to destroy a truck-bomb in the same area. A Reaper was also active over the Euphrates, using a Hellfire to destroy a vehicle-mounted terrorist team, armed with rocket-propelled grenades, on the outskirts of Fallujah.
Despite these efforts around Fallujah, the Kurdish forces in the north were not neglected: Tornados bombed a mortar position near Mosul. There were two further attacks near Mosul on Sunday 29 May, conducted by Typhoons against another mortar position and a large truck-bomb that was being prepared for use. In the south, near Hit, a Tornado patrol destroyed a Daesh vehicle with a Brimstone missile.
Intelligence work had identified two factory sites in northern Syria, between Al Bab and Manbij, producing improvised explosive devices. A pair of Tornados, armed with 1,000lb Enhanced Paveway II bombs, conducted a deliberate strike on the two sites on Monday 30 May. A Tornado reconnaissance patrol near Mosul used a Paveway to attack a group of terrorists, and a Brimstone to destroy their support vehicle.
Typhoons also destroyed three weapon stockpiles to the east of Mosul. Another Typhoon mission maintained a close air support presence over Fallujah, and, working very closely with a coalition surveillance aircraft, used Paveway IVs to attack an armed truck and a Daesh fighting position.
Previous air strikes2 May: Typhoons provided further support to the Iraqi forces near Fallujah, striking a machine-gun team in a bunker and a 23mm anti-aircraft gun. In northern Iraq, Tornados used two Paveways to destroy a Daesh-held building and a nearby weapons store north of Mosul, then flew south to the Qayyarah region where Iraqi forces were engaged in a firefight with a group of terrorists manning a fortified position. Despite the close proximity of the friendly forces, very precise strikes with two Paveways and two Brimstones helped destroy the Daesh group.
RAF Tornado strike Daesh weapons store 2 May 2016
3 May: An RAF Reaper remotely piloted aircraft conducting reconnaissance over the village of Batnay, north of Mosul. A truck-bomb was identified inside a compound and struck using a Hellfire missile, resulting in a very large explosion. The Reaper then provided targeting support to a successful strike by coalition fast jets against a group of Daesh fighters and their vehicle. Two Tornados were also tasked to operate over Batnay, and they successfully destroyed a further Daesh vehicle with a direct hit from a Brimstone. In western Iraq, Typhoons provided further close air support to Iraqi forces near Fallujah, striking a mortar team and their vehicle hidden under trees south of the city.
4 May: A Reaper identified a truck-bomb, concealed underneath a tarpaulin, next to a road in western Iraq. The crew checked that there were no civilians or friendly forces at immediate risk and used a Hellfire missile to score a direct hit on the vehicle, detonating the explosives safely. South of Fallujah, a pair of Typhoon FGR4s used a Paveway IV guided bomb to destroy a building where a group of extremists, armed with a heavy calibre automatic weapon. In the same area, a Tornado GR4 flight dropped four Paveways on a weapons stockpile, two Daesh-held buildings, and a tunnel entrance. RAF aircraft also supported Kurdish forces in the north of the country, where another Tornado flight bombed a group of Daesh fighters and a mortar team, the latter positioned in a small copse of trees.
5 May: Tornado missions in support of Iraqi and Kurdish operations demolished a terrorist position north-east of Mosul on around Mosul and Fallujah, while Typhoons bombed a tunnel and a mortar south-west of Fallujah.
6 May: Daesh terrorists were spotted unloading rockets and mortar projectiles from a number of small boats and a barge on the Euphrates in Anbar province. A Tornado reconnaissance patrol, armed with Brimstone missiles, was first on the scene and prevented the initial load of weapons from being driven away, hitting the terrorists’ truck with a Brimstone while they were still loading it. A Paveway-armed flight of Typhoons then arrived and used its bombs to destroy the weapons on the shore, and sink the barge. The same Typhoon flight also attacked a mortar position south-west of Fallujah. A second Tornado flight destroyed two heavy machine-gun positions on the north bank of the Euphrates, downstream from the recently liberated town of Hit. In northern Iraq, Typhoons struck another mortar, north-west of Mosul.
RAF Typhoon strike Daesh weapons 6 May 2016
8 May: Typhoons were active south of Fallujah, where a rocket launcher was identified in the open with three known caches of ammunition stored nearby. All four targets were struck with Paveway IV guided bombs and successfully destroyed.
9 May: RAF Typhoon FGR4s, armed with Paveway IV guided bombs, conducted successful attacks against a group of Daesh extremists hiding in a tunnel network dug into a riverbank north-west of Kirkuk and against two rocket launcher positions north of Mosul.
Other Typhoons, and Tornado GR4s provided close air support to the Iraqi troops operating in the Euphrates valley. The Typhoons struck a mortar position north of the Al Asad airbase, while the Tornados destroyed a terrorist command post situated nearby in a riverside building in the midst of a palm grove.
10 May: RAF Sentry airborne command and control platforms have also been playing their part in the overall direction of the air campaign against Daesh. A typical Sentry mission saw it controlling some 40 coalition aircraft operating over Syria and Iraq, including several RAF reconnaissance missions.
11 May: Tornados again assisted Iraqi ground forces in the Euphrates valley, when they came up against a heavily defended Daesh building, which was demolished with a Paveway.
12 May: A Typhoon flight used three Paveways to hit Daesh positions ahead of a Kurdish offensive to the south-west of Kirkuk.
13 May: Two RAF Reapers provided close air support to the peshmerga as they advanced, conducting a total of four attacks with three Hellfires and a GBU-12 guided bomb. They destroyed mortar teams and a Daesh supply truck, as well as providing surveillance support to a coalition air strike which destroyed a terrorist strongpoint. Tornados were meanwhile again assisting Iraqi ground forces in the Euphrates valley, and destroyed two Daesh-held buildings on the northern bank of the river.
15 May: A pair of Typhoons conducted successful simultaneous attacks north-west of Fallujah, which destroyed a bunker and an engineering vehicle.
16 May: RAF support to Iraqi ground forces along the Euphrates continued when Tornados used a Paveway bomb to destroy a small Daesh bunker containing ammunition supplies.
RAF Tornado strike Daesh weapons cache 16 May 2016
17 May: Tornados operated north of Mosul and conducted a successful attack with Paveways on a group of three buildings near Bashiqah, which housed weapon stockpiles. The same day, a Typhoon flight used a pair of Paveways to destroy two machine-gun positions which Daesh were attempting to establish on the northern bank of the Euphrates near Hit following their recent defeat by the Iraqis in the town.
18 May: Flights of Typhoons and Tornados both participated in a series of attacks on Daesh installations north of Tal Afar. The Typhoons employed eight Paveways to attack a cluster of buildings used by the terrorists for command and control, accommodation, and vehicle and weapon storage. The Tornados delivered four Paveways to destroy a further command post and three ammunition stockpiles.
19 May: Tornados from RAF Akrotiri patrolled the Mosul area. North of the city, they used a Paveway IV guided bomb to destroy a tunnel in which a group of Daesh extremists were based, then moved to the east of Mosul where 15 rocket launchers had been stored by the terrorists. Three Paveway IVs were used against ammunition stockpiles, before three Brimstone missiles were used to destroy the rocket launchers. The small warhead and high precision of the Brimstones avoided any structural damage being caused to the surrounding buildings.
Typhoons were also active over northern Iraq that day, operating north of Tall Afar where they employed a pair of Paveways to demolish a large weapons store, then two more Paveways against two other Daesh-held buildings.
20 May: Intelligence analysis pinpointed two Daesh headquarters in north-west Syria, located 10 and 25 miles respectively north of Aleppo near the fighting along the Mar’a Line. A pair of Tornado GR4s were tasked with their destruction. One of the command posts was in a very solidly constructed building, this was targeted with two Enhanced Paveway II 1000lb bombs. A pair of 500lb Paveway IVs were used against the second headquarters. Both targets were destroyed by direct hits.
RAF Tornado strike Daesh headquarters 20 May 2016
RAF Tornado strike Daesh headquarters 20 May 2016
With the Iraqi ground forces preparing to launch their offensive to liberate Fallujah, Typhoons provided close air support to their operations around the outskirts of the city. A stockpile of components for improvised explosive devices was destroyed with one Paveway and a terrorist strong-point with a second.
22 May: Further close air support was provided around Fallujah, when Tornados bombed a tunnel complex where weapons and ammunition were stored.
23 May: Tornados used a Brimstone missile against a further mortar team near Fallujah. Not far away, Iraqi ground forces were in close combat north of Habbaniyah assisted by a pair of RAF Typhoons that struck a mortar team and a rocket position with Paveways. In the north of the country two more Typhoons contributed to a coalition strike on Daesh installations west of Mosul, a workshop preparing truck-bombs was assigned as the RAF target and successfully demolished by a Paveway. Across the border, in eastern Syria, an RAF Reaper identified a terrorist checkpoint north-west of Dayr az Zawr and destroyed it with a Hellfire missile.
Details of previous airstrikes can be found here.
For more information see Daesh: UK government response page on GOV.UK
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/update-air-strikes-against-daesh
seen at 16:30, 31 May in Announcements on GOV.UK.Email this to a friend.