The United Kingdom has announced the extension of its Iraqi air campaign against Islamic State militants for two more years.
The UK secretary of defense, Michael Fallon made the announcement of announced on Tuesday.
"Our Tornado [aircraft] squadrons have proved their worth in the air campaign because of the precision weapons they have and because of the reconnaissance and surveillance that they carry out when they're not striking," Fallon told BBC radio.
UK had planned to continue the operations of its Tornados in the air strikes again the Islamic state until March 2016. The change in stopping of operations happened after Fallon’s recent visit to Iraq to get appraisal of the present situation.
Eight RAF Tornado fighter jets, 10 Reaper drones, a Voyager refueling aircraft and a Sentinel intelligence gathering plane are provided by the British government in the coalition fight against the Islamic State.
The British government has, in recent times, been very vocal in attacking the Islamic State and its activities. The Islamic State was labeled as “one of the biggest threats our world has faced” by British Prime Minister David Cameron.
Talking about the offensive against the Islamic State, Michael Fallon had recently commented that commented the UK was conducting its “new Battle of Britain" against "a fascist enemy".
UK is the second largest contributor in terms of resources and logistics in the coalition against the Islamic State which is led by the US.
Meanwhile, last month the UK announced that it would be sending more spy planes into the fight against the Islamic State which would help in the coalition campaign.
The plane is expected to be operational very shortly.
The latest spy plane is an American military developed Rivet Joint plane. The Royal Air Force has bought two such planes and one of them would be delivered this summer and later used in the reconnaissance gathering activity against the Islamic State militants. Tipped to be one of the most intelligent and advanced air intelligence gathering platforms in the world, the spy plane is able to listen, identify and locate enemy communications that include communications made via mobile phone and even text messages.
The UK government wants to christen the place as Airseeker even as the official name given by the developers is Rivet Joint. The first plane that was delivered by the US to UK has been in operations, flying surveillance missions over Syria and Iraq for six months.
“Today, with more warnings of threats to our citizens in Tunisia following the horrific events of two weeks ago, we're fighting a new Battle of Britain," Fallon had said just weeks ago. Fallon was referring to the killing of 30 Britons, among the 38 tourists by a jihadist on a beach in the Tunisian resort of Sousse in June.
(Source: www.digitallook.com & www.news.sky.com)
The UK secretary of defense, Michael Fallon made the announcement of announced on Tuesday.
"Our Tornado [aircraft] squadrons have proved their worth in the air campaign because of the precision weapons they have and because of the reconnaissance and surveillance that they carry out when they're not striking," Fallon told BBC radio.
UK had planned to continue the operations of its Tornados in the air strikes again the Islamic state until March 2016. The change in stopping of operations happened after Fallon’s recent visit to Iraq to get appraisal of the present situation.
Eight RAF Tornado fighter jets, 10 Reaper drones, a Voyager refueling aircraft and a Sentinel intelligence gathering plane are provided by the British government in the coalition fight against the Islamic State.
The British government has, in recent times, been very vocal in attacking the Islamic State and its activities. The Islamic State was labeled as “one of the biggest threats our world has faced” by British Prime Minister David Cameron.
Talking about the offensive against the Islamic State, Michael Fallon had recently commented that commented the UK was conducting its “new Battle of Britain" against "a fascist enemy".
UK is the second largest contributor in terms of resources and logistics in the coalition against the Islamic State which is led by the US.
Meanwhile, last month the UK announced that it would be sending more spy planes into the fight against the Islamic State which would help in the coalition campaign.
The plane is expected to be operational very shortly.
The latest spy plane is an American military developed Rivet Joint plane. The Royal Air Force has bought two such planes and one of them would be delivered this summer and later used in the reconnaissance gathering activity against the Islamic State militants. Tipped to be one of the most intelligent and advanced air intelligence gathering platforms in the world, the spy plane is able to listen, identify and locate enemy communications that include communications made via mobile phone and even text messages.
The UK government wants to christen the place as Airseeker even as the official name given by the developers is Rivet Joint. The first plane that was delivered by the US to UK has been in operations, flying surveillance missions over Syria and Iraq for six months.
“Today, with more warnings of threats to our citizens in Tunisia following the horrific events of two weeks ago, we're fighting a new Battle of Britain," Fallon had said just weeks ago. Fallon was referring to the killing of 30 Britons, among the 38 tourists by a jihadist on a beach in the Tunisian resort of Sousse in June.
(Source: www.digitallook.com & www.news.sky.com)