(London) The British MOD has issued a statement stating that 4 RAF tornado jets based out of Cyprus carried out an air strike on a military facility – a former missile base – some fifteen
miles west of Homs, using Storm Shadow stealth cruise missiles where the regime is assessed to keep chemical weapon
precursors stockpiled in breach of Syria’s obligations under the Chemical
Weapons Convention.
The Tornado is a twin-engine, variable-sweep wing multirole combat aircraft, which was jointly developed and manufactured by Italy, the United Kingdom, and West Germany.
Storm Shadow / SCALP EG is an advanced, conventionally armed
cruise missile currently operational with the RAF and French Air Force. It is
optimized for pre-planned attacks on static targets, whose positions are
accurately known before the mission. With long-range and a very efficient stealth design,
Storm Shadow can eliminate strategic components of enemy defensive systems,
without risking manned aircraft. The missile weighs 1,300 kg and is powered by
a turbojet engine.
