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Ministerial correction made by Mike Penning (Conservative) on Wednesday, 14 September 2016, in the House of Commons on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.


Islamic State: Military Intervention

It is difficult to correlate the number of sorties and weapon types utilised as one sortie can often constitute multiple weapons releases, possibly of different munition types. The following table details the total number of sorties, and those with weapons released, as of 25 August 2016. All UK strikes, in support of the Coalition, are undertaken as part of a rigorous targeting process, which assesses the situation before, during and after a strike to ensure adherence to the Law of Armed Conflict. It should be noted that frequently sorties will be flown in Syria with weapons released that may also have had weapons released in Iraq.

Aircraft

Sorties Flown

Sorties Flown with Weapons Released

Iraq

Syria[1]

Iraq

Syria

Typhoon

859

82

303

13

Tornado

2,370

298

506

37

Reaper

1,503

547

234

29

Aircraft

Sorties Flown

Sorties Flown with Weapons Released

Iraq

Syria[1]

Iraq

Syria

Typhoon

859

82

303

13

Tornado

2,370

298

506

37

Reaper

1,503

547

234

29

Sorties can be conducted without weapons releases for multiple reasons, varying from the provision of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance in order to support forces on the ground, to development of future striking opportunities.

The number of each weapon type released is as follows:

Aircraft

Weapon Type Released

Location of Release

Iraq

Syria

FGR4 Typhoon

Paveway[2]

551

38

GR4 Tornado

DMS Brimstone

185

23

GR4 Tornado

Paveway[2]

685

63

MQ9 Reaper

Hellfire

423

45

[1] All Syrian sorties will have originated in Iraqi airspace.

[2] Includes all variants of Paveway munitions.

Corrected item
Islamic State: Military Intervention

Secondary information

Type
Written correction
Session
2016-17
Subjects
Iraq Military aircraft Syria Military intervention Islamic State
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written correction on www.parliament.uk