The French Ministry of Defense describes the Daesh as in a "situation of decline". According to reports, the tactical situation of the caliphate in Iraq has been involved in a purely defensive phase for several weeks: despite sporadic attempts to attack the positions won by the coalitions in the areas of Haditha and Baiji.
In Ramadi the fight against the caliphate is still ongoing and the offensive operations are regularly carried out against the remaining pockets of resistance: securing the area and obtaining complete control will still take time.
The air force consists of: 24 Rafale Marine / Air, 6 Mirage D / N, 8 Super Etendard, taking part in the Operation Chammal, the French effort within the international anti-ISIS coalition, maintains the pace of setbacks on target targets and CAS (Close Air Support) missions for close air support to Iraqi troops advancing in the Ramadi and Mosul areas. The targets registered as destroyed in the last few weeks are all command and telecommunications centers that belonged to ISIS.
In Syria the action of the Armée de L'Air pursues through planned 'strikes' which mainly aim at command centers of the terrorist organization and oil structures able to finance the Daesh. The objectives are always previously identified during joint reconnaissance missions.
Since the beginning of the air strikes (15 November 2015), France has doubled the number of sorties (reaching a weekly average of 63 sorties). This represents the 44% of air missions supported by the coalition (excluding the USAF and US NAVY). In the last 15 days the French crews have carried out 160 sorties and 30 strikes, recording 57 targets as destroyed. The air activity on the territory in the hands of Daesh has been reported as: 24 sorties for reconnaissance flights and acquisition of targets, 8 refueling flights carried out by the C-135 FR tanker deployed in the area, 12 sorties 'command and control' and 116 bombings.
All missions are launched from the Allied air bases in Jordan (Muwaffaq Salti, OJ40) and from the bridge of the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, now head of the 50 Task Force (TF50) which has been operating from the Persian Gulf for a month.
The English part loses less balance on the results obtained and continues to report its missions more accurately. Within the Operation shader, the English effort within the international breakfast, the RAF squadrons composed of Tornado GR4 and Typhoon FGR4 (29 luminaires in total), together with the remote piloted aircraft Reaper, continue to carry out armed reconnaissance missions e Close Air Support in support of Iraqi land forces and Kurdish peshmerga.
The sorties are conducted in areas north of Iraq, near Mosul, in the area south of Sinjar, in Ramadi, and in Syria throughout the Raqqua area. Here the 'Tongo' ei Typhoon taken off from the bases of Cyprus (Akrotiri, AKT) they daily eliminate mortar positions, armored vehicles and armed pick-ups that ISIS uses to curb the advance of the Allied ground forces, employing laser-guided bombs Paveway IV and missiles Hellfire.
Among the objectives recorded as destroyed there are also a ship for the transport of fuel along the Euphrates and a collection center for militant members of the caliphate.
(photo: Etat-major des armées / armée de l'Air)
