A
SUSPECTED CHEMICAL
AT TAC K in the Syrian
city of Douma on April 7
reportedly killed at least 70
people. The US government
quickly attributed the
atrocity to the Syrian Arab Army, while
the Syrian government and its allies
claimed it had been carried out by rebels
— some suggesting it was a ‘false ag’
operation to put Syria under political
pressure. The US, France and UK claimed
to have evidence showing the directrole of Syrian government forces in the
attack, which was apparently aimed at
the Jaysh al-Islam group (designated as
a terrorist organization by Syria, Russia
and Egypt).
To punish the Syrian government for
its use of weapons of mass destruction,
the US apparently decided as early
as April 8 to carry out a strike against
the Syrian Arab Army with the aim
of eliminating its chemical weapons
capability. France and the UK joined the
alliance on April 12.In the early hours of April 14, a joint cruise missile attack targeted
three sites in Syria in response to the use of chemical weapons
in Douma. A total of 105 cruise missiles were launched during an
operation that involved 66 combat aircraft from the US, France
and the United Kingdom.REPORT Babak Taghvaee
STRIKING SYRIA
It seems Washington’s initial plans
envisaged a large-scale strike against
three Syrian Arab Air Force (SyAAF)
air bases: Dumayr, al-Shayrat and T4/
Tiyas using BGM-109C Tomahawk land
attack missiles (TLAMs) launched by
the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile
destroyer USS Donald Cook (DDG 75) in
the eastern Mediterranean and another
destroyer in the Red Sea.
According to the Russian Ministry
of Defense (MoD), the US and Russian
governments secretly discussed the
proposed cruise missile strike on April
9, and Moscow warned the US that
it would retaliate against such an
operation. Meanwhile, in the early hours
of the same day, four Israeli Air Force
(IAF) F-16Is — or F-15Is, according to
Russian accounts — launched eight
Delilah cruise missiles against T4/Tiyas.
The target was the unmanned aerial
vehicle (UAV) operations of the Islamic
Revolutionary Guard of Corps Aerospace
Force (IRGCASF), including a command
and control site and equipment
including Saeghe UAVs and armed
Shahed-129 drones. The raid reportedly
resulted in the deaths of at least eight
Iranian personnel.
The SyAAF was now on high alert and
began to evacuate its mission-capable
jets from T4 and other air bases. These
included all 10 airworthy Su-24Ms of
the 819th Squadron, which were sent
to the Russian Air Force’s Hmeimin
air eld in Latakia and other bases close
to the Russian S-400 surface-to-air
missile (SAM) battery, such as Kuweires
in Aleppo.Russian activity
On April 8, a pair of Russian Su-24Ms
ying at very low altitude, and escorted
by a pair of Su-30SMs, buzzed the
French Navy frigate Aquitaine (D650) in
the eastern Mediterranean. The Russian
Air Force also staged continuous combatBelow: A 34th
Expeditionary
Bomb Squadron
B-1B deployed
to the 379th Air
Expeditionary
Wing prepares
to launch from Al
Udeid to attack
targets in Syria.
Two Lancers,
deployed from
Ellsworth AFB,
South Dakota,
employed 19
JASSM-ERs,
marking the
fi rst combat
employment
of the weapon.
USAF/MSgt Phil
Speck
Left: An RAF
Tornado GR
taxiing into its
hangar after
landing at Akrotiri
on completing
its mission. The
four Tornados
that conducted
strikes in Syria
were fl own by
No 31 Squadron
‘Goldstars’.
Crown Copyright14 June 2018 //^ http://www.combataircraft.net
14-17 Syria C.indd 14 20/04/2018 13: