Britain shoots down first enemy aircraft since the Falklands: Typhoon jet downs drone in Syria
RAF shoots down first enemy aircraft since the Falklands: British Typhoon fighter jet destroys drone operated by ISIS or Iran in the skies over Syria
Typhoon fighter jet shot down a ‘coffee table-sized’ drone patrolling south Syria Thought the drone belonged to either Islamic State or an Iranian-backed militiaFirst time British forces have shot down an enemy aircraft since the Falklands
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An RAF Typhoon fighter jet has downed a drone in Syria – the first time Britain has shot down an enemy aircraft since the Falklands War.
The British warplane, part of a US-led coalition in Syria, shot down the target near al-Tanf coalition base in the war torn country’s south on Tuesday.
Two RAF Typhoon FGR4s were patrolling the airspace over Syria and Iraq when they were scrambled to investigate reports of two hostile drones above the garrison’s ‘deconfliction’ zone.
The pilots identified a ‘coffee table-sized’ drone, thought to belong to either Islamic State or an Iranian-backed militia, and shot it down with a heat-seeking air-to-air ASRAAM missile. The second drone was no longer in the area.
It marked the first air-to-air combat involving a British aircraft in nearly 40 years since RAF pilots brought down Argentinian Skyhawks using Aim 9 Sidewinder missiles during the 1982 Falklands War.
Britain has shot down its first enemy aircraft since the Falklands War after a Typhoon fighter jet (pictured approaching RAF Coningsby, England, in August 2020) downed a drone in Syria
Two RAF Typhoon FGR4s were patrolling the airspace over Syria and Iraq when they were scrambled to investigate reports of two hostile drones above the garrison’s ‘deconfliction’ zone. The pilots identified a drone and shot it down with an ASRAAM missile
US Central Command spokesman, Navy Captain Bill Urban, said there were no casualties or damage to facilities.
Britain’s defence ministry said Tuesday’s air-to-air engagement was the first for a Royal Air Force Typhoon.
‘A pair of Typhoon FGR4s from Royal Air Force Akrotiri (on the island of Cyprus) were conducting one of their regular patrols over Syria and Iraq as part of the global coalition…. and were tasked to investigate [reports of hostile drones],’ a statement said.
‘The pilots were able to identify a small hostile drone and despite the diminutive size of the target… eliminated the threat it posed to coalition forces’
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said: ‘This strike is an impressive demonstration of the RAF’s ability to take out hostile targets in the air which pose a threat to our forces.
‘We continue to do everything we can alongside our coalition partners to stamp out the terrorist threat and protect our personnel and our partners.’
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said: ‘This strike is an impressive demonstration of the RAF’s ability to take out hostile targets in the air which pose a threat to our forces’
The RAF in January destroyed two Islamic State terror cells found hiding in caves in Iraq using laser-guided bombs.
Meanwhile the RAF in April helped clear a stronghold of Islamic State militants in Iraq after a 10-day operation using missiles and bombers.
And in a separate operation in April, an RAF Reaper armed with Hellfire missiles completed a successful strike on a small ISIS camp in northern Syria.
A defence spokesperson said at the time that while ISIS has been ‘territorially defeated’, some 10,000 terrorists are still at large in Syria and Iraq.
The al-Tanf base is located in a strategic area near Syria’s border crossing with Iraq and Jordan of the same name and houses a small number of US troops.
It is the only position with a significant US military presence in Syria outside the Kurdish-controlled north.
Iranian-backed forces have in the past attacked US troops with drones and rockets in eastern Syria and Iraq.
In October, a number of drones were launched against the base, although there were no US casualties.
US officials have said Iranian-backed militia could increase attacks on US troops in Iraq and Syria in coming weeks, in part to mark the anniversary of the killing of top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis
The two were killed by a US drone strike in Iraq on January 2, 2020.
