UK Extends Tornado Squadron To Keep Up Iraq Bombing Effort

LONDON — The British government has reprieved a squadron of Tornado GR4 strike jets from being axed in order to maintain its operations against Islamic State group targets in Iraq.

The announcement that 12 (Bomber) Squadron will be kept flying for a further year was made by British Defence Secretary Michael Fallon during a visit to Baghdad on Aug. 3.

The Royal Air Force has eight Tornado jets based at Akotiri, Cyprus, from where it has been mounting strike and tactical reconnaissance missions in Iraq since last year. The squadron was to have been disbanded as part of the Tornado drawdown, but a shortage of available aircraft saw the government extend the life of operations with the strike aircraft until 2016.That has now been further extended until March 2017.

The final two Tornado squadrons are due to exit service in 2019, by which time most of the RAF's Typhoon multirole aircraft fleet should be cleared to carry a similar range of air-to-ground weapons.

Integration of the MBDA Brimstone and Storm Shadow missiles on the Typhoon is underway. The aircraft is already cleared to carry the Raytheon Paveway IV precision guided bomb.

The move comes as the British government prepares to ask Parliament later this year for approval to extend air strikes against Islamic State targets in Syria. The RAF has been able to conduct reconnaissance missions over Syria but is not allowed to undertake strike actions there.

The UK Ministry of Defence released new figures today detailing the scale of Tornado operations against the Islamic State group since late September 2014. The figures show 214 Paveway IV bombs and 86 Brimstone missiles have been released during 1,162 missions.

"We want to ensure we maintain this crucial operational tempo, and so we will extend the lifetime of Number 12 Squadron for a further year to March 2017," Fallon said. "This will allow us to sustain our effort, helping the Iraqis lead the fight on the ground."

Aside from the Tornado jets, the RAF has also deployed its fleet of General Atomic Reaper remotely piloted aircraft against Islamic State targets.

The decision to retain the Tornado squadron for a further year highlights again the RAF's shortage of combat squadrons.

Chief of Defence Staff Gen Nick Houghton told an air power conference in London last month that the RAF's deployment domestically and overseas had "put us at the very limits of fast jet availability and capacity."

It is estimated that by 2019 the British combat aircraft inventory as it is currently planned will be down to only 127 front-line jets — mainly Typhoons, but also a small number of Lockheed Martin F-35Bs that will be starting to come into service. The F-35s are being shared by the RAF and the Royal Navy.

Defense analyst Howard Wheeldon said he hopes the latest reprieve of the Tornado squadron signals that the British government is beginning to understand the problems of having so few combat jets.

"Reduced to just six squadrons under the current Future Force 2020 plans that emerged from Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) 2010 five years ago, the need to extend 12 Squadron Tornado GR4 aircraft is yet further evidence, if it was needed, that RAF fast-jet capability is now dangerously overstretched," Wheeldon said. "What the announcement by [Fallon] hopefully suggests is not only the belated recognition by the government that getting on with planned investment in Typhoon is absolutely crucial, but also that the Royal Air Force needs double the number of fast jet squadrons that it is planned to have."

A new SDSR being conducted by the Conservative government here is expected to address the issue of combat jet numbers. The total number of F-35s to be ordered and a possible stay of execution on phasing out about 50 Tranche 1 Typhoons, now slated for 2019, will likely be among the decisions taken by the SDSR, which is expected to be published in the fourth quarter of this year.

Email: achuter@defensenews.com