said ‘Shader’ operations take place in a
‘very complex airborne environment’.
Brie ng reporters, he emphasized the
stark contrast of his rst RAF days in 1985
with the complicated situation in the air
today over Syria. ‘You’re [...] operating
in airspace alongside the latest Russian
aircraft, in an environment populated
by ‘double-digit’ SAMs [surface-to-
air missiles from the SA-10 ‘Grumble’
onwards] and part of your target set
is going to comprise British passport
holders. Oh, and by the way, the Iranians
are going to lob ballistic missiles through
people’s airspace into Syria at the same
time. That’s the reality of where we are.’
The coalition assembled under
Operation ‘Inherent Resolve’, including
the UK’s ‘Shader’ element, includes a
‘raft of capabilities’, plus of course the‘mass’ required to maintain such an
enduring mission. Stringer praised the
US Air Force’s coalition management
and the command and control structure,
especially with the intricacies of Russians
and Syrians, Hezbollah and Kurds, all
of whom in uence the campaign. ‘Air
command and control is vital’, he added.
‘Every day has potential for tactical events
to have strategic implications.’
Stringer calls the Sentinel R1’s
contribution ‘phenomenal’. The ground
moving target imagery (GMTI) has been
the ‘reference standard’ for the coalition.
Data gathered has been a starting point
for more focused intelligence collection,
so important in this type of con ict.
The RAF MQ-9 Reaper community has
evidently played a crucial but unsung role
in the campaign, and Stringer praised thefrom reconnaissance to armed overwatch
missions above Iraq from September
27 that year. On the 30th, the Tornados
dropped their rst ordnance, and on
October 16 it was announced that RAF
Reapers would join the e ort over Iraq.
Upon a further vote in Parliament on
December 2 to expand UK operations
in the Middle East, the RAF immediately
started ying missions inside Syria.
Two of the six GR4s already deployed
to Akrotiri launched the rst sortie
into Syrian territory the same evening,
attacking IS-controlled oil wells in the
east of the country.
The RAF later bolstered its Cyprus
detachment with six Tranche 2 Typhoon
FGR4s from RAF Lossiemouth in P1Eb
con guration. They joined the Tornados
and ew their debut missions on
December 4, 2015, each Typhoon carrying
four Paveway IV bombs plus AIM-120
AMRAAMs for self-protection, striking the
large oil eld at Omar in eastern Syria. The
Tornados also used Enhanced Paveway
IIIs for ‘bunker-busting’ and MBDA Storm
Shadow stand-o cruise missiles.
Since late 2016, operations have seen
Typhoons again working as mixed pairs
with the GR4s, making the most of their
combined e ects, both defensively and
o ensively. The MBDA Dual-Mode Seeker
(DMS) Brimstone came to the fore in
operations around the IS stronghold of
Raqqa and in the liberation of Mosul,
in what are very demanding operating
environments.
The RAF’s air component commander
from October 2016 until October 2017
was Air Cdre Johnny Stringer. With
so many factions and non-traditional
forces on the ground in Syria, Stringer
praised the e orts of both the RAF and
the British Army in terms of what has
been developed regarding air-land
integration over the past decade. HeTop: The A400M
Atlas C1 is a
world-class
airlifter, the RAF
having benefi ted
from partnering
with industry in
bringing the type
into service.
Crown Copyright
Above right:
Air Cdre Johnny
Stringer (right)
led the RAF’s
Operation
‘Shader’ mission
until October last
year. USAF ANG/
SSgt Staff Patrick
VensonFORCE REPORT // ROYAL AIR FORCE CENTENARY
32 April 2018 //^ http://www.combataircraft.net
30-35 RAF 100 C.indd 32 16/02/2018 10:14