Strike of Syria

[hammarö]

RAF JETS STRIKE CHEMICAL WEAPON FACILITY IN SYRIA

A Tornado GR4 from 903 Expeditionary Air Wing (EAW), based out of Royal Air Force Akrotiri, Cyprus. Crown copyright.

At 0200 UK time on 14 April, British forces joined close Allies in a precision strike on Syrian installations involved in the regime’s use of chemical weapons against its own people. The strike was launched as a response to the chemical weapon attack on 7 April in Douma which killed up to 75 people, including young children; a significant body of information, including intelligence, indicates that the Syrian regime was responsible for this latest attack.
As the Prime Minister has made clear, this pattern of behaviour must be stopped, not just to protect innocent people in Syria from these horrific weapons, but also because the erosion cannot be allowed of the international norms that prevent the use of chemical weapons.

The UK element of the carefully coordinated joint action was contributed by four Royal Air Force Tornado GR4s. They launched Storm Shadow missiles at a military facility – a former missile base – some fifteen miles west of Homs, where the regime is assessed to keep chemical weapon precursors stockpiled in breach of Syria’s obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention. Very careful scientific analysis was applied to determine where best to target the Storm Shadows to maximise the destruction of the stockpiled chemicals and to minimise any risks of contamination to the surrounding area. The facility which was struck is located some distance from any known concentrations of civilian habitation, reducing yet further any such risk.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/raf- ... y-in-syria

[Stratofreighter]

...found thru
http://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-middle-east-43710303 .

https://twitter.com/Elysee/status/984984444623781888
Short videoclip of Rafales hung with Storm Shadow/SCALP taking off to strike Syria, .
Yes, the official Elysee Twitter account.

[hammarö]

About B-1 used.
https://twitter.com/Aviation_Intel/stat ... 1481598977

About refuel of aircraft
https://twitter.com/ItaMilRadar/status/ ... 8155310080

[hammarö]

Chris Cavas Twitter concerning the naval shootings.

They were performed from both the Med, Red Sea and from the Arabian Sea.

https://twitter.com/cavasships

[hammarö]

Counted shootings after early sources 105 missiles


SSN-785 John Warner (Med) 6 Tomahawk
D-653 Langedouc (Med) 3 SCALP
B-1B bombers from CONUS (Med?) 19 JASSM
Tornado (Akrotiri) 8 Storm Shadow
Rafale (from French air base) 9 SCALP
CG-61 Monterey (Arabian Gulf) 30 Tomahawk
DDG-58 Laboon (Red Sea) 7 Tomahawk
DDG-76 Higgins (Persian Gulf) 23 Tomahawk
Total 103 missiles officially

[hammarö]

The missile strike and the air defence of Syria
through Russian eyes

https://sputniknews.com/military/201804 ... -analysis/

[hammarö]

Updated

Total 105 missiles shooting.

USS SSN-785 John Warner (Med) 6 Tomahawk
French D-653 Langedouc (Med) 3 SCALP
USAF 2 B-1B bombers from CONUS (Med) 19 JASSM
RAF Tornado from Akrotiri (Med) 8 Storm Shadow
French 4 Rafale from St Dizier (Med) 9 SCALP
USS CG-61 Monterey (Red Sea) 30 Tomahawk
USS DDG-58 Laboon (Red Sea) 7 Tomahawk
USS DDG-76 Higgins (Persian Gulf) 23 Tomahawk
Total 103 missiles officially

Two U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer bombers, along with French Rafale and Mirage warplanes, and British Typhoon and Tornado fighters participated in the strikes in the country. The B-1Bs were accompanied by U.S. fighters, a U.S. Marine Corps EA-6B Prowler electronic warfare aircraft and was supported by U.S tankers, according to press reports.

The three targets, which were selected to inflict damage on the Syrian chemical weapons program, because their locations minimized the chance for civilian injury, and to mitigate the risk of Russians being involved, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford said at the press briefing.

U.S., French and British forces fired a total of 105 missiles at the facilities.

The Barzah facility was hit by 76 missiles, including 57 Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles
and 19 AGM-158 Joint Air to Surface Standoff Missiles (JASSMs)

The Him Shinsar chemical weapons storage facility hit by 22 weapons, including nine Tomahawk land attack missiles, eight Storm Shadow missiles, and three Naval cruise missile.

The Him Shinsar command facility was hit by seven air-launched French SCALP missiles.

https://news.usni.org/2018/04/13/breaki ... ikes-syria

[AlGa]

Thank You Hammarö,
Note that for the French Rafale, aircraft and Scalp counts do not correspond. Usual configuration is two Scalp per Rafale ... It is unlikely that a different configuration was used for this long range mission. But one never knows

[Alpha Kilo One]

Anyone knows how many where shot down?

[R van Bommel]

Thank You Hammarö,
Note that for the French Rafale, aircraft and Scalp counts do not correspond. Usual configuration is two Scalp per Rafale ... It is unlikely that a different configuration was used for this long range mission. But one never knows

Seen on a video released by the French Government I saw 5 Rafales returning from Syria.

[hammarö]

Here you have a video of the take off of the Rafales.

...found thru
http://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-middle-east-43710303 .

https://twitter.com/Elysee/status/984984444623781888
Short videoclip of Rafales hung with Storm Shadow/SCALP taking off to strike Syria, .
Yes, the official Elysee Twitter account.

[hammarö]

My sources are from beginning mostly twitters.

Now are more official more reliable information coming.

But I still lacking spotting info.

[Bennie]

Thank You Hammarö,
Note that for the French Rafale, aircraft and Scalp counts do not correspond. Usual configuration is two Scalp per Rafale ... It is unlikely that a different configuration was used for this long range mission. But one never knows

The ‘official’ article a few posts upward also mentioned Mirages...

[hammarö]

As information about Saturday 2018.04.14 strikes against targets in Syria has been slowly spread out. It is possible to piece together a picture of the raid.

Total 105 missiles shooting.

USS SSN-785 John Warner (Med) 6 Tomahawk
French D-653 Langedouc (Med) 3 SCALP
USAF 2 B-1B bombers from CONUS (Med) 19 JASSM
RAF Tornado (Akrotiri) 8 Storm Shadow
French 4 Rafale from St Dizier (Med) 9 SCALP (official figure)
USS CG-61 Monterey (Red Sea) 30 Tomahawk
USS DDG-58 Laboon (Red Sea) 7 Tomahawk
USS DDG-76 Higgins (Persian Gulf) 23 Tomahawk
Total 103 missiles officially

In short the following units were involved:

France - Armee de l’Air.

5 x Dassault Rafale (St Dizier) launching 9 SCALP EG cruise missiles (official number).
4 x Mirage 2000-5 escort
1 x E-3FR AWACS
KC-135R/C-135F aerial refuelling aircraft.
All aircraft operated out of bases in France.

UK – Royal Air Force.

4 x Tornado GR.4, launching 8 Storm Shadow cruise missile.
? x Typhoon FGR.4, escort.
A single relay aircraft.
Operating out of RAF Akrotiri on Cyprus.

USAF.

2 x B-1B, launching 19 JASSM-ER cruise missiles.
? x F-16, escort.
? x F-15, escort.
Numerous supporting assets, including RQ-4B Global Hawk UAV for intelligence gathering, E-3 AWACS, KC-135 and KC-10 aerial refuelling aircraft, and likely a single E-11B relay aircraft.
Bombers operating out of Al Udeid AB in Qatar, fighters from both Al Udeid and European air bases.

USMC.

1 x EA-6B Prowler, ECM escort.
Operated out of Ahmad al-Jaber air base, Kuwait.

France – Marine National.

French D-653 Langedouc (Med) 3 SCALP.
Operating in the Mediterranean.

US Navy.

USS CG-61 Monterey (Red Sea) 30 Tomahawk
USS DDG-58 Laboon (Red Sea) 7 Tomahawk
Operating in the Red Sea, launching a total of 37 TLAM cruise missiles.

USS DDG-76 Higgins (Persian Gulf) 23 Tomahawk
Operating in the Persian Gulf.

USS SSN-785 John Warner (Med) 6 Tomahawk
Operating in the Mediterranean.

Alert readers will note that the total amount given is 105 missiles (36 air-launched, 63 ship-launched and 6 sub-launched), coming in two above the 103 given by Russian sources. The missiles hit the following targets:

Barzhah/Barzeh Scientific Research Center.

Situated in the western parts of Damascus, the center was hit by 57 TLAM and 19 JASSM-ER missiles.
Sputnik published a video reportedly shot at the scene, which seems to match the location. It also matched the description given by the Pentagon, in that three large buildings have been completely destroyed.

Interestingly, the dual weapons used says something about the nature of the target. While the TLAM has a standard 454 kg class blast/fragmentation warhead (i.e. it exploded and creates shrapnel), the JASSM-ER sports what Lockheed Martin calls a 908 kg class weapon with a dual-mode penetrator and blast fragmentation warhead (i.e. it is made to penetrate hardened structures such as bunker before then exploding and creating shrapnel). Another thing to note is that the number 57 does not respond to any possible combination of the salvos from individual ships, meaning that at least one vessel targeted two different sites.

Him Shinsar chemical weapons storage facility.

The bunkers and facilities used for storing chemical weapons were hit by 22 weapons, these being 9 TLAM, 8 Storm Shadow, 2 SCALP EG and 3 MdCN. This shows the different nature of the target compared to the research center, as the number of missiles is much smaller, but also the fact that 13 out of 20 missiles were bunker-busting Storm Shadow/ SCALP EG/MdCN (which are simply different local designations for the same missile, with MdCN being the ship-launched version). The Pentagon briefing described the target as destroyed, and while it is harder to verify it comes to underground installations, significant damage is visible in satellite imagery posted since.

Him Shinsar command facility.

The final target was a command facility associated with the Him Shinsar site. This was hit by the last 7 SCALP EG. Pentagon described the facility as having taken damage, as opposed to the two others which were rated as destroyed. It is unclear if this is a failure, or simply representative of the different nature of the target. Command facilities might be able to continue to function to some extent even if key buildings are wiped out, which is not the case with a storage facility in which storage buildings are hit.

Satellite imagery shows what looks like two larger and one smaller hardened building having been targeted and destroyed.

[Cat Power]

A very good and interesting report...thank you