came down in the eastern Mediterranean
due to a technical failure.
Minutes after the French Rafales
dropped their weapons, four RAF Tornado
GR4s ying from Akrotiri launched eight
Storm Shadow cruise missiles that hit the
storage site west of Homs.
From the US 5th Fleet area of
operations in the north of the Red Sea,
seven Tomahawks were red from the US
Navy Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS
Laboon (DDG 58) and 30 more from the
Ticonderoga-class cruiser USS Monterey
(CG 61). The BGM-109s ew over the
Israel/Jordan border until they entered
Syrian airspace in the Golan Heights. They
hit the three drug research laboratories
of the Barzah scienti c research center
in the north of Damascus, where it was
believed that chemical weapons were
developed.
The Arleigh Burke-class destroyer
USS Higgins (DDG 76) red 23 further
Tomahawks from the north of the Persian
Gulf. Of these, 20 targeted the Barzah
center and three the Him Shinshar
storage site in the west of Homs.
Flying over the west of Iraq, two B-1Bs
of the 37th Bomber Squadron (serials
86-0111 and 86-0129) launched 19
AGM-158B Joint Air-to-Surface Stand-o
Missile — Extended Range (JASSM-ER)
weapons at the Barzah center, logging
the rst operational use of this missile.Counter-air missions
Given the possibility of aerial
confrontation with Russian Su-30SM
ghters armed with air-to-air missiles,
Su-34s equipped with Kh-35 anti-ship
missiles and Su-24Ms armed with other
precision-guided weapons, the coalition
conducted CAPs to secure the airspace
over the international waters of the
eastern Mediterranean.
The USAF used 10 493rd Fighter
Squadron (FS) F-15Cs and several 555th
FS F-16Cs, all ying from Aviano AB, Italy.
These were supported by KC-135Rs and
KC-10As over the Mediterranean during
a mission of almost six hours. The F-15Cs
had been deployed to Aviano a few days
before the operation and returned to RAF
Lakenheath on April 15. The ghters ew
in three di erent cells. The rst had two
ights — one of four F-16Cs and the other
with four F-15Cs — while the second
comprised three F-16Cs and four F-15Cs,
and the third consisted of four F-16Cs.
To carry out high-asset value combat
air patrol (HAVCAP) and forward CAP
(FORCAP) to protect French E-3Fs,
C-135FRs, Rafale B/Cs and warships, the
Armée de l’Air used four Mirage 2000-5Fs
from EC 1/2 ‘Cigognes’.
The RAF employed four of its six
Typhoon FGR4s based at RAF Akrotiri
for CAP and HAVCAP missions over the
eastern Mediterranean.With the
possibility of
aerial confrontation
with Russian Su-30SM
fi ghters, the coalition
conducted CAPs to
secure airspace over
the international
waters of
the eastern
Mediterranean
For command and control, two Armée
de l’Air E-3Fs ew together with at least
four C-135FRs on a nine-hour mission over
the eastern Mediterranean. These AWACS
monitored airspace and supported USAF
and RAF assets as well as the French Air
Force ghters. It is rumored that a single
USAF E-3G, one of six forward-deployed
to Al Dhafra AB, United Arab Emirates,
supported the B-1Bs. The Lancers in turn
had electronic warfare support from a
single EA-6B of Marine Tactical Electronic
Warfare Squadron (VMAQ) 2 — one of sixAbove: RC-135V
Rivet Joint
64-14846 from
the 379th Air
Expeditionary
Wing takes off
from Al Udeid
back in 2016.
Flying from Crete,
this particular
aircraft probably
aided the coalition
by collecting
real-time, on-
scene electronic
intelligence.
USAF/SrA Miles
Wilson
Below: An RAF
Voyager about
to take off from
Akrotiri, Cyprus.
Although the RAF
described the
mission as being
‘in support’ of the
Tornado strikes,
it seems Voyager
KC2 ZZ343 was
used twice to
refuel the RAF’s
Typhoon FGR4s
that were on
CAP during the
operation.
Crown Copyright16 June 2018 //^ http://www.combataircraft.net
COMBAT REPORT // CHEMICAL WEAPON HUNTERS
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