A Reaper supported the Iraqi security forces advancing near Qayyarah
The aircraft spotted a heavy vehicle transporter being used by Islamic State to move one of the mechanical excavators that are used to construct their fortified positions. Both the transporter and the excavator were destroyed by coalition fast jets, guided to the scene by the Reaper.
The Reaper crew subsequently tracked an armed vehicle withdrawing from a nearby compound and attempted to conceal the vehicle in shed.
A direct hit from a Hellfire missile destroyed the building and the truck inside.
Operation Shader is the operational code name given to the British participation in the ongoing military intervention against the Islamic State.
The operation began in Iraq on the 26th of September 2014, following a formal request for assistance by the Iraqi government.
Prior to this, the Royal Air Force had been engaged in a humanitarian relief effort over Mount Sinjar, which involved multiple aid airdrops by transport aircraft and the airlifting of displaced refugees.
By October 2014, the intervention had extended onto Syria with the Royal Air Force only mandated to conduct surveillance flights over the country.
In December 2015, the House of Commons approved British airstrikes against IS in Syria. The UK is one of several countries directly involved in the ongoing Syrian conflict that started in March 2011, utilising Tornado, Typhoon and Reaper aircraft.
By June 2016, the Ministry of Defence had announced that over 1,000 personnel were engaged in theatre and that the Royal Air Force had conducted around 900 airstrikes, flying over 2,200 sorties, killing almost 1,000 Islamic State fighters.
ukdefencejournal.org.uk
