LONDON and PARIS – Royal Air Force Tornado strike jets are poised to attack Islamic State (IS) targets in a matter of hours following the British Parliament's Friday vote approving action against the militants.
The British have had six Tornados operating from a base at Akrotiri, Cyprus, for several weeks, initially providing reconnaissance in support of the humanitarian effort in the region.
Other RAF assets include a Rivet Joint signals intelligence aircraft operating out of Qatar and a Voyager A330 inflight refueling aircraft.
Parliament had to be recalled from recess by the Conservative-led coalition government to vote on the proposals for the British military to join allies attacking IS.
The overwhelming vote for action by lawmakers endorsed strikes against Islamic State targets in Iraq. A separate approval would be sought from Parliament if the government moved to extend the air strikes to the militants in Syria.
Speaking in a six-hour debate on the issue, British Prime Minister David Cameron said there was a strong case to be made for striking IS targets in Syria.
The government also said it would not deploy combat troops on the ground in Iraq.
The British join an alliance of nations including the U.S., France and a growing number of other European and Arab states taking action against the Islamic State group.
Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands are among the nations talking about deploying aircraft to strike IS targets in Iraq.
British Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said Thursday that the military strikes could last for years.
Analysts here said the British commitment was very niche although it was politically and symbolically important, particularly after the government failed to get parliamentary approval last year to strike Syrian government targets in retaliation for the use by the Bashar al-Assad regime of chemical weapons against civilians in the ongoing civil war.
British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond told the BBC earlier today that six Tornados were probably adequate to do the job for now, but that more aircraft could be required later.
The US is already striking targets in Syria and Iraq and nations in the region like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan have also deployed air power against the Islamic State.
Tornados can be armed with dual-mode Brimstone, Storm Shadow and Paveway IV precision weapons.
The British effort mirrors the commitment by France, which has six Rafale fighters permanently deployed at a base in the United Arab Emirates along with a C135-FR tanker and an Atlantique 2 maritime patrol aircraft employed on reconnaissance duties.
The British also have Tornados based in Afghanistan although that commitment is due to end soon as NATO combat forces prepare to exit the country at the end of this year.
Just hours before the British finally entered the fray, the French Ministry of Defense announced that two Rafale fighters had earlier in the day destroyed four Islamic State arms depots near Fallujah, west of Baghdad.
The Rafale pilots dropped four GBU 12 laser-guided bombs, with the help of the Damocles laser guidance pod.
The fighters flew for seven hours, and were refueled four times by a C135-FR and a US Air Force tanker.
The Atlantique 2 delivered a battle damage assessment while flying an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance mission of some 10 hours.
This was only the second wave of air strikes by the French following an initial attack on Sept. 19, when Rafales hit a supply depot in northeast Iraq — illustrating the difficulty in identifying targets to strike. ■
Email: achuter@defensenews.com, ptran@defensenews.com.
Andrew Chuter is the United Kingdom correspondent for Defense News.
