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Second French Rafale strike mission in Iraq: locates and fires…

(credit: General Staff of the French Armed Forces)
(credit: General Staff of the French Armed Forces)

(BRUSSELS2) Two French Rafales carried out a new mission of targeted strikes on Thursday morning (25 September). for the benefit of the Iraqi armed forces in the western region of Baghdad, near Fallujah.

Targets of Opportunity

The targets " of opportunity » have been " transmitted in flight to the crews by the CAOC (the Air Operations Coordination Center, located at US HQ, Al Udeid in Qatar). " Identified by Rafale pilots “they were destroyed” between 9:50 and 10:22 “, according to a press release from the general staff of the French armies. Hunters, who had "pod" of Damocles designation, dropped on the objectives " four 12" GBU laser-guided bombs. In the end, according to the official report: the destruction of " four sheds containing military equipment used by Daesh ».

The principle of "Spot and shoot"

We speak in this case of dynamic targets - explains an officer - because the crews will " as close as possible to the combat zones”, for " acquire information » but stand ready to provide strikes in the event of identification of targets of opportunity” on the ground. In the previous days, several reconnaissance flights had been carried out. Flight " recognition and support was thus carried out on Tuesday (September 23) by two Rafales. And on Wednesday (September 24), a reconnaissance and "dynamic targeting" mission, but without strikes, had been carried out. Supported by French and American tanker planes, the French fighters had carried out their missions in pairs. A patrol of 2 Rafales equipped with RECO NG pods carried out an intelligence mission “ in the depth" in the Mosul region while the other patrol of 2 fighter planes, this time equipped with Damocles pods, carried out a "dynamic targeting" mission north of Baghdad.

A seven hour flight

Thursday's flight lasted about seven hours. The two Rafales therefore had to be refueled 5 times, 4 times by French Air Force C-135 tanker aircraft and 1 time by US Air Force tanker aircraft. To finalize the operation, an Atlantique 2 maritime patrol aircraft carried out a ten-hour flight, with an ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) aim, to carry out an assessment of the strikes (what is called in French terms soldiers a "Battle Damage Assessment". The images taken were transmitted " immediately to the staff of the admiral commanding the Indian Ocean zone” (ALINDIEN) — which tactically commands Operation Chammal — as well as at the CPCO, the center for planning and conducting operations located in Paris in the basements of the Ministry of Defense — which provides strategic command — " to be analyzed ».

Missions continue

Missions " air support will continue to support the Iraqi armies in their fight against Daesh “We specify to the staff of the armies. Missions "carried out in close coordination with the Iraqi authorities as well as with our allies present in the theatre”.

Operation cost

If we base ourselves on the information given by the general staff and our own cost table, Thursday's operation alone cost around $1,2 million (just under a million euros), hourly costs of the planes and replacements of the bombs fired, the main part being assumed by France (the American support being limited to a tanker plane). This without counting the other planes possibly in the air in support (type Awacs, etc.)

(NGV)

Read also: New strikes in Iraq on Saturday and Sunday

Nicolas Gros Verheyde

Chief editor of the B2 site. Graduated in European law from the University of Paris I Pantheon Sorbonne and listener to the 65th session of the IHEDN (Institut des Hautes Etudes de la Défense Nationale. Journalist since 1989, founded B2 - Bruxelles2 in 2008. EU/NATO correspondent in Brussels for Sud-Ouest (previously West-France and France-Soir).

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