GREAT BRITAIN
Syrian Civil War
NAME VICTORIES UNITS AIRFORCE COMMENTS unknown 1 Royal Air Force 1.
Comments:
- The engagement took place on 14 December when the drone activity was detected above the At Tanf Coalition base in Syria. As the drone continued on its track, it became clear it posed a threat to Coalition forces.
RAF Typhoons conducting routine patrols in the area were tasked to investigate. Despite the small size of the drone making it a very challenging target, it was successfully shot down using an Advanced Short Range Air to Air Missile (ASRAAM) and the threat eliminated.
It is the first operational air-to-air engagement conducted by an RAF Typhoon, and the first such engagement by the UK's air force over Iraq or Syria.
Sources & Literature
- Attrition, Accident Reports, in Air Forces Monthly, Issue 407, February 2022.
- Straty bojowe, in Lotnictwo, No. 01 (236), 2022.
- Beale, Jonathan: RAF Typhoon jet shoots down 'small hostile drone' in Syria, BBC News, https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-59615769. [Online, accessed 17-12-2020]
- BREAKING A RAF Typhoon shot down a drone over Syria, first air to air engagement since the Falklands war, Air Live, https://www.airlive.net/breaking-a-raf-typhoon-shot-down-a-drone-over-syria-first-air-to-air-engagement-since-the-falklands-war/. [Online, accessed 17-12-2020]
- Cenciotti, David: RAF Typhoon’s First Air-To-Air Kill: Terrorist Drone Shot Down In Syria, The Aviationist, https://theaviationist.com/2021/12/16/raf-typhoons-first-air-to-air-kill/. [Online, accessed 17-12-2020]
- Lewis, Lauren: RAF shoots down first enemy aircraft since the Falklands: British Typhoon fighter jet destroys drone operated by ISIS or Iran in the skies over Syria, Mail Online, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10318003/U-S-led-coalition-shoots-drone-southern-Syria.html. [Online, accessed 17-12-2020]
- Newdick, Thomas: British Typhoon Fighter Downed A Drone Over Syria For Its First Air-To-Air Kill, The War Zone, https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/43547/british-typhoon-fighter-downed-a-drone-over-syria-for-its-first-air-to-air-kill. [Online, accessed 17-12-2020]
- RAF Typhoon Destroys Terrorist Drone in Syria, GOV.UK, https://www.gov.uk/government/news/raf-typhoon-destroys-terrorist-drone-in-syria. [Online, accessed 17-12-2020]
- Sheridan, Danielle: RAF Typhoon shoots down enemy drone over Syria in first air-to-air combat since Falklands, Last time British forces engaged in such activity was when RAF and Royal Navy pilots shot down Argentine Skyhawks in 1982, The Telegraph, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/12/16/raf-typhoon-shoots-enemy-drone-syria-first-air-to-air-combat/. [Online, accessed 17-12-2020]
- Starkey, Jerome: Jet Blast, RAF Typhoon shoots ‘Iran-backed militia’ drone out of the sky near Syria base in first air-to-air combat since Falklands, The Sun, https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/17061891/raf-typhoon-shoots-iran-militia-drone-syria/. [Online, accessed 17-12-2020]
- U.S.-led coalition shoots down drone in southern Syria, Reuters, https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/us-military-shoots-down-drone-southern-syria-near-base-official-2021-12-16/. [Online, accessed 17-12-2020]
