American, British, and French naval and air forces have launched a series of strikes against several Syrian government buildings across Syria in response to the April 7, 2018 Douma gas attack. Rumors had circulated since the attack on the 7th that the United States intended to strike at Assad in retaliation, with Friday the 13th being suspected by many experts as the date it would take place. Increased American air traffic flying toward the region had been noted in the days leading up to the strike, and on Friday at around 5:00 PM things began to move in fast motion.
Steve Herman (w7voa)
We have a “dinner lid” declared until 19:00 EDT. That’s a bit unusual as no evening event on @POTUS schedule. So it could mean some big announcement tonight or it could be insignificant.
The 7:00 PM (EDT) deadline came and went with no news. Slowly word began leaking out that a meeting was still ongoing between President Trump, John Bolton, Jim Mattis, and several others. An American RQ-4 Global Hawk drone was spotted on ADS-B tracking sites off the coast of Lebanon. At approximately 8:25 PM, it was reported that Vice President Pence’s motorcade (driving through Lima, Peru) had made an abrupt u-turn and sped rapidly back to the hotel, with no explanation given. The White House press pool was called. It was announced that President Trump would address the nation at 9:00 PM. At that hour, Trump appeared and gave a short speech, wherein he announced that the US, UK, and France had carried out a series of strikes against three targets in Syria. As he began speaking, livestreams in Damascus picked up the sounds of explosions and air raid sirens as cruise missiles came streaming in.
There were no reported civilian casualties in the strikes. The attacks destroyed their targets completely, and have severely damaged Syria’s ability to manufacture additional nerve agents. Syria’s chlorine weapons stockpile and manufacturing capabilities remain unscathed. The implications of the strikes will be lasting and far-reaching, and the response has yet to occur (as of this writing). That will likely not remain the case forever.
Below is a list of weapons systems used and targets attacked.
(known) maritime assets deployed
united states navy
USS Monterey | Ticonderoga-class Cruiser
USS Higgins | Arleigh Burke-class Destroyer
USS Laboon | Arleigh Burke-class Destroyer
USS John Warner | Virginia-class Attack Submarine
french navy
Unknown | Cassard-class Air Defense Frigate
Unknown | Georges Leygues-class Anti-Submarine Frigate
FS Aquitaine | Aquitaine-class Multipurpose Frigate
FS Auvergne | Aquitaine-class Multipurpose Frigate
FS Languedoc | Aquitaine-class Multipurpose Frigate
Unknown | Durance-class Tanker
(known) aerial assets deployed (italics for support)
royal air force
4 x Eurofighter Typoon | Multirole Fighter
4 x Panavia Tornado GR4 | Multirole Fighter
french air force
5 x Dassault Rafale | Multirole Fighter
5 x Dassault Mirage 2000-5F | Multirole Fighter
6 x Boeing C-135FR Stratotanker | Aerial Tanker
2 x Boeing E-3 Sentry | Airborne Early Warning & Control
united states air force
2 x Rockwell B-1B Lancer | Strategic Bomber
4 – 8 x General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon | Fighter
4 – 8 x McDonnell Douglas F-15C Eagle | Fighter
4 x Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker | Aerial Tanker
3 x McDonnell Douglas KC-10 Extender | Aerial Tanker
1 x Bombardier E-11A | Battlefield Airborne Communications Node
locations targeted
Barzeh Scientific Research Center | Damascus
33.558333, 36.315556
Tomahawk Cruise Missile: 57
JASSM: 19
Him Shinshar Chemical Weapons Storage Facility | Homs
34.681473, 36.466262
Tomahawk Cruise Missile: 9
(UK) Storm Shadow/SCALP: 8
(FR) Missile de Croisiere Naval (MdCN): 3
(FR) Storm Shadow/SCALP: 2
Him Shinshar Chemical Weapons Bunker/Command Center | Homs
34.695209, 36.537523
(FR) Storm Shadow/SCALP: 7
1. Is the extent of the Syrian Government’s chemical weapons capabilities known?
2. To what extent is it believed that these attacks have diminished these capabilities?
The complete extend of Syria’s current CW capabilities are not known, as they do not readily admit to possessing any weapons. The attacks probably hurt Syria’s ability to produce sarin, but they may still have stockpiles left (and chlorine production, of course, cannot be stopped without harming water purification efforts).