Weapons the US, UK and France used to target Syria
The United States combined with the armed forces of the United Kingdom and France early Saturday to carry out airstrikes against the chemical weapons facilities maintained by the regime of Syria. Here are some of the weapons they used:
Posted — UpdatedUK Tornado fighters
Britain contributed four Tornado fighter jets armed with Storm Shadow cruise missiles to the operation, the UK's Ministry of Defense said.
The jets are likely to have taken off from RAF Akrotiri, the Royal Air Force base on Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean. The British Ministry of Defense said the Tornadoes targeted a Syrian chemical weapons site in Homs.
The twin-engine Tornado GR4 is the UK's main ground-attack aircraft, and they were armed with Storm Shadow missiles, an air-launched weapon that carries a 400 kilogram (900 pound) warhead as far as 400 kilometers (250 miles). That means the Tornadoes will not have been required to fly far, and would not have needed to cross into Syrian airspace to launch their strikes.
French Rafale jets
The office of French President Emmanuel Macron posted video on Twitter of its Rafale fighter jets taking off for the Syria mission.
The French defense minister, Florence Parly, said the jets flew from bases in France. Like the British Tornado, the twin-engine Rafale could be armed with Storm Shadow missiles that can fly for more than 250 miles.
This means jets could strike without having to fly over Syria and avoid anti-aircraft defenses.
US B-1 bombers
A US defense official said the US Air Force used B-1B bombers in the Syria strike.
The US did not give details on what weapons the B-1s were carrying, but US officials did say air-launched cruises missiles were used in the strike.
The four-engine B-1 is capable of deploying air-launched JASSM cruise missiles, which carry 450 kilogram (1,000 pound) warheads and have a range of more than 370 kilometers (230 miles). That means the B-1s would not have needed to expose themselves to Syria air defenses to make their strikes.
The defense sources did not say where the B-1s flew from, but Air Force media earlier this month showed the bombers arriving at the Al Uldeid US air base in Qatar, on the Arabian peninsula.
US guided-missile cruisers and destroyers
US defense sources said at least one US warship in the Red Sea participated in the Syrian airstrikes.
The US Navy's Arleigh Burke-class destroyers and Ticonderoga-class cruisers carry dozens of Tomahawk cruise missiles with a range of up to 2,500 kilometers (1,500 miles).
Tomahawk cruises missile
US defense officials did not specify what weapons were used during the airstrikes early Saturday on Syria.
However, the Tomahawk cruise missile has been the military's go-to weapon in past such operations, including the one the Trump administration launched a year ago in Syria, when 58 of the Tomahawks hit a Syria airfield after a previous use of chemical weapons by the Syria regime.
The Tomahawk is carried by the dozens by US and British warships, including cruisers, destroyers and submarines, and is capable of delivering a 1,000-pound warhead.
It is designed to fly extremely low and can navigate around defenses using its on-board guidance systems. Its target can also be changed mid-flight through communication with controllers.
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