A pair of Royal Air Force Panavia Tornado GR4s engaged their first Islamic State targets in Iraq on 30 September, the UK Ministry of Defence has announced.
The strike aircraft were conducting an armed reconnaissance mission launched from RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, when they were “tasked to assist Kurdish troops in north-west Iraq who were under attack”, the MoD says.
What the MoD describes as “a heavy weapon position” was located using the Tornado’s Rafael Litening III targeting pod, before this was engaged using one Raytheon Paveway IV precision-guided bomb. “Following this engagement, the patrol identified an armed pick-up truck in the same area and conducted an attack on the vehicle using a [MBDA] Brimstone missile,” it adds.
Crown Copyright
“An initial assessment indicates that both precision strikes were successful,” the MoD says.
Trending News
-
Lockheed proposes KAI T-50A for T-X over Skunk Works design11 Feb 2016Lockheed Martin will offer an upgraded version of the T-50 fighter it jointly developed with Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) for the US Air Force's T-X trainer programme, forgoing a clean-sheet alternative designed by its Skunk Works division.
-
KC-46 demonstrates probe-and-drogue refuelling of F/A-1823 hours agoBoeing and the US Air Force have completed the first KC-46A Pegasus refuelling of a combat jet using the next-generation tanker's wing-mounted hose-and-drogue system.
-
USAF calls for nuclear debate as fiscal realities set ina day agoThe US Air Force has called for a national debate on how best to modernise America s nuclear arsenal, with one official saying funding levels become unmanageable in budget year 2022 and beyond as an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) replacement project ramps up.
-
Boeing stock price tumbles on fraud report11 Feb 2016Boeing s stock price is flirting with setting a one-day decline record on 11 February after a morning news report linked the company to a fraud investigation.
-
International F-35 customers pushing block-buy plana day agoInternational buyers of the Lockheed Martin F-35 are considering leading the US government in entering into a three-year block buy arrangement for planned orders between 2018 and 2020.
-
OPINION: What next for Boeing?09 Feb 2016Having abandoned a clean-sheet design to replace its 737 in 2011, Boeing has moved swiftly towards flight testing a re-engined version. But its focus may now shift to something larger