Britain to speed up Typhoon upgrade for Iraq campaign

Telegraph

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     The Ministry of Defence is speeding up plans to upgrade the RAF’s Typhoon jets with precision missiles in case they are one day needed to bomb Isil fighters in Iraq.

Defence sources said Britain’s role in the unexpected campaign against Islamist militants had exposed a shortage of ground attack jets which will only get worse as the RAF’s ageing Tornado planes retire.

Only Tornado GR4 fighter-bombers are fitted with Britain’s highly accurate Brimstone missiles which are considered critical to the campaign against Isil forces who have swept across Northern Iraq.

Commanders say the missiles are unique among the coalition forces and envied by America for their ability to hit moving vehicles, while minimising civilian casualties with a small warhead.

The MoD announced earlier this year it planned to fit the missiles to Typhoons by 2019 so they can take over the Tornados ground attack duties when the jets retire that year.

But RAF chiefs have now warned the unexpected extra burden of the Iraq campaign on its shrinking fleet of combat jets means they may soon struggle to field enough planes carrying the £105,000 missiles.

The Government has already given a one year reprieve to a squadron of Tornado GR4s which had been due to be axed early next year.

The MoD is now in talks to speed up the upgrade, but defence analysts say it could still be 2017 before the Typhoons are ready.

Howard Wheeldon, a defence analyst, said: “It’s a pity this decision was not made a long time ago. Typhoon will not be fully air-to-ground capable until 2019, and that’s really too far out.

“It isn’t just about bunging Brimstone on the aircraft. Even if it went really well, I think 2017 would be the earliest that it could really be operational.

“It was only six months ago that the Defence Secretary was saying we would not be fighting any more conflicts abroad in the near future. Things have changed a lot since then with Iraq, while we are still in Afghanistan, as well as Nigeria and the Falklands.

“They don’t have the capacity to do that. This is a realisation that we need to be able to operate more than one campaign.”

Air chiefs have also warned that the strain of the seven or eight hour round trip to bomb Isil targets from the Tornados base at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus will increase the wear and tear on the ageing planes.

Ministers have admitted the Iraq campaign could take several years. The US-led coalition has already launched hundreds of air strikes in both Iraq and Syria, but Iraqi forces have been unable to capitalise on the onslaught to drive back Isil, also known as Isis or Islamic State.

Typhoons were designed in the 1990s as air-to-air combat fighters to defend Britain’s skies against enemy planes, rather than for ground attack.

The RAF has begun taking delivery of upgraded planes which can drop the Tornados’ Paveway IV guided bombs.

An MoD spokesperson said: “We have already deployed a number of Tornado GR4s to support coalition operations against Isil in Iraq.

“Whilst we constantly review our options, there are no plans to deploy Typhoon to Iraq as the GR4 provides the optimum capability for the operation. Although work is under way to evaluate the integration of Brimstone missiles with the Typhoon aircraft, no firm decisions have been made.”