Page 96 - AirForces - Monthly (February 2020)

Operation Inherent Resolve

on October 13. On the same day the Kurdish A mine-resistant ambush
leadership of the SDF agreed a deal to protected vehicle is loaded
onto a C-17A Globemaster III
allow Russian and Syrian troops to enter the at KLZ on October 24.
territory they controlled to take over from US US Army/SSgt Joshua
troops and hopefully block further Turkish Hammock
advances. These were desperate times for
the Kurdish fighters of the SDF who felt
they had been betrayed by Washington.
Operation Break Glass –
the air assets
US commanders had prepared for this
eventuality and in early October drew up a
contingency plan – codenamed Break Glass
– ready to cover the mass evacuation of their
troops and equipment from Syria. During
October 13, the plan was activated, and the
personnel began falling back on two of its
main operating bases, one in northwest Syria,
south of the town of Kobanî, with the other
in the east of Syria near Hasakah. Control of
the air over northern Syria was included as an
essential component of the American plan.
Although the 1,000 American special forces
troops in Syria (as well as small contingents
of British and French troops) were vastly
outnumbered by Syrian, Russian, Turkish and
SDF forces, the coalition had overwhelming The ability of the C-17
air supremacy. US aerial firepower devastated Globemaster III to operate from rough strips was a
major factor in the ability to withdraw troops and
an attack on an outpost by a group of Russian equipment quickly. US Army/SSgt Joshua Hammock
mercenaries in February 2018, inflicting
hundreds of casualties. Every US aircraft in the It’s unclear if RAF Typhoons based at RAF MH-60M helicopters on hand for the operation.
Middle East could potentially be mobilised to Akrotiri in Cyprus joined in this protection It was their job to carry elite troops of the US
protect the American ground troops as they cordon but Voyager tankers were tracked Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) on
withdrew, including F-15Es based in Jordan, flying over northern Syria on several occasions raids to kill or capture high-value IS personnel.
F-22As in Qatar (now relocated to Prince during the evacuation period. In addition, Within Iraq and Syria a network of more
Sultan AB in Saudi Arabia), F-35As in Al Sentinel R1 Airborne Stand-Off Radar aircraft than two dozen helicopter landing sites
Dhafra, United Arab Emirates, and F/A-18E/ from the RAF’s No V (Army Co-operation) were operated by the US Army’s 244th
Fs embarked on the USS Abraham Lincoln Squadron were also tracked flying around Combat Aviation Brigade (CAB). Its AH-64Ds,
(CVN 72) in the Northern Arabian Gulf. MQ-9 Syria at this time, helping to monitor CH-47F Chinook and UH-60 Black Hawk
Reaper and MQ-1C Gray Eagle drones were surface movements across the country. helicopters spent their time darting from one
also on station at air bases in Kuwait and Iraq. Located at a specially constructed air base site to another depending on the tactical
These fighters and drones were all positioned at Harir near Erbil in northern Iraq, the 160th situation. At any one point, eight Apaches
in continuous combat air patrols (CAPs) over Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR) and a similar number of UH-60s would be
the key bases, with the support of tankers. ‘Nightstalkers’ had four MH-47G and eight operating from landing zones inside Syria.

94 // February 2020 #383 www.Key.Aero

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92-97 Syria AFM Feb2020.indd 94 06/01/2020 10:41:34