{"id":53454,"date":"2015-12-03T14:49:59","date_gmt":"2015-12-03T14:49:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2015\/12\/03\/uk-bolsters-combat-jet-force-attacking-islamic-state-group\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:44:35","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:44:35","slug":"uk-bolsters-combat-jet-force-attacking-islamic-state-group","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/home\/2015\/12\/03\/uk-bolsters-combat-jet-force-attacking-islamic-state-group\/","title":{"rendered":"UK Bolsters Combat Jet Force Attacking Islamic State Group"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

LONDON\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Reinforcements to the British combat jet force fighting the Islamic State group departed bases in the UK on Thursday Dec 3 <\/span>just hours after a parliamentary vote approved a government move to extend strike operations to Syria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Six Eurofighter Typhoon jets\u00a0and an additional two Panavia Tornado GR4s were dispatched earlier today <\/span>to\u00a0join a strike force of eight Tornados operating out of the Royal Air Force base at Akrotiri, Cyprus.\u00a0The RAF has been striking Islamic State targets in Iraq since 2014 but until now has only been able to provide reconnaissance capabilities over Syria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That changed Dec. 3 when the Conservative government secured a large majority in Parliament approving the extension of attacks against\u00a0being extended to <\/span>Islamic State targets in Syria as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within hours of the vote, two Tornados from Cyprus launched six strikes against\u00a0Islamic State oil fields in the east of Syria using Raytheon 500-pound lb <\/span>Paveway IV precision-guided bombs.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aside from the Tornado and Typhoon jets, the British have up to 10 General Atomics armed Reaper UAVs unmanned air vehicles <\/span>operating over Syria and Iraq. Supporting forces include an Airseeker signals intelligence aircraft, a Sentinel battlefield surveillance platform and a Voyager A330 in-flight refueling tanker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The British MoD gave some idea of the scope of its efforts in Iraq, releasing figures showing that it had conducted 1,632 missions over Iraq and conducted more than 380 successful strikes since it started operations in September 2014. Those figures\u00a0relate to missions by Reaper and Tornado.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The British join a wide coalition of nations including the US and France in attacking Islamic State targets from the air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

France also has recently boosted its air forces lined up against IS by dispatching the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle to the eastern Mediterranean. The deployment was planned before the terror attack in Paris.<\/p>\n\n\n\n