Syrian defenses knew there was to be retaliation but were powerless to stop it.
“We successfully hit every target,” said Dana White, the Pentagon’s chief spokesperson.
All planes returned safely to bases.
Russia, Syria’s ally in the seven-year-old civil war, said Syria had shot down 71 missiles and “thwarted” others, though Russian officials insisted no Russian defenses or personnel were involved.
Cruise Missiles
A majority of what was sent to destroy Syria’s chemical infrastructure was in the form of cruise missiles.
Defending against a single cruise missile is, by design, exceptionally challenging. Defending against a swarm? Forget about it. An Exocet cruise missile penetrated the defense of the British Royal Navy and sank the HMS Sheffield in the Falkland crisis in 1982. For an inland target, a cruise missile will hug the contours of the Earth, barely over treetops, flying at near sonic speed. The missile will pass overhead in a split second. For an anti-aircraft gunner, it’s an impossible shot. Ground-based missile defenses using radar would improve the odds. An interceptor pilot may never see it since radar might not pick it up. A cruise missile can be 20 feet long but thin enough to wrap your arms around, so it would not be spotted head on. The latest generation of cruise missiles—the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) and Storm Shadow/SCALP—use stealth technology that makes their radar signature smaller still. A fighter aircraft with look-down radar would have difficulty picking up the missile from ground clutter. A fighter plane may have the best chance by in the favored dog fighting mode, from behind, the feared “bogey at 6 o’clock,” locked on to its infrared signature with a heat seeking missile or a radar guided air-to-air missile that can lock on to its target against an uncluttered sky.
Too bad for Syria that 20 percent of its air force was destroyed after U.S. retaliation of its chemical attack a year ago.
According to the U.S. military, Syrian missiles were launched at the incoming missiles on a ballistic trajectory, a term for non-guided targeting, and fired after the cruise missiles already had hit their targets. This suggests they were counting on luck and just getting in the way of missile yet to come.
The Targets
Now you don't...Homs facility after missile strikes. (Image courtesy of CNN.)
Bazrah Research Center in Damascus before missile strikes. (Image courtesy of CNN.)
The Bazrah Research and Development center in Damascus, the capital of Syria, is where both chemical and biological weapons are developed. Satellite photos show buildings identified as the center erased, while nearby buildings remain. Also, there was a chemical weapons storage facility and a chemical bunker. Although, these losses are probably significant for Syria’s chemical warfare, maps show chemical weapons may be stored throughout the country.
Chemical warfare has been declared illegal since World War I, when chlorine and mustard gas were used.
Bomb Chemicals without Spreading Them
Deadly chemicals and nerve agents must be burned where they sit, according to military experts. An ordinary explosion will scatter the lethal substances into the air, killing innocent people. The military has used white phosphorous, which burns hot enough to raise air temperatures to a thousand degrees and start fires, but it’s highly toxic and difficult to handle, reports Popular Mechanics. Also, it has been condemned by the international community, although the U.S. military admitted to using it to fight ISIS.
Lawrence Livermore Labs developed a thermite bomb. Thermite burns hotter than white phosphorous but is safer to store and handle. The thermite is set off with a high-explosive core.
It is not known whether the missiles or bombs used in the recent attack used thermite.
What Went Up
The British Royal Air Force launched the Tornado GR4 fighter bomber.
Typhoon fighter jets also are said to have participated in the mission.
France Ships and Missiles
A multi-mission frigate added three Missile de Croisière Naval (MdCN) cruise missiles to the attack, which is believed to have a range of a thousand km. The MdCN is launched from ships and submarines, similar to the Tomahawk used by the U.S.
US B1 Bomber
The four B1 bombers probably flew from an air base in Qatar and launched 19 JASSM cruise missiles, each with a 1,000-pound warhead and a range of 230 miles.
The latest version of the mainstay long-range bomber, the first B1 flown in combat was in 1986, can fly anywhere in the world, has a speed up to Mach 1.2 and can drop a myriad of munitions, including bombs, missiles and mines. A single B-1B can carry 84,500 pounds of bombs or 24 JASSMs. The B-1 replaces the B-52s for the USAF. The B-1 is put together by several companies: Boeing, Rockwell, General Electric (engines) and EDO (avionics), and costs $317 million apiece.
Three U.S. warships and one submarine launched the bulk of the cruise missiles used, each sending salvos of Tomahawk cruise missiles. Almost 70 Tomahawks were used in this operation.
The U.S. Navy’s cruiser, the USS Monterey, launched 30 Tomahawks from the Red Sea. The USS Higgins, a destroyer, launched 23 Tomahawks from the North Arabian Gulf. The submarine USS John Warner, operating from the Mediterranean, contributed six Tomahawks.
Tomahawks
Raytheon’s Tomahawk, a long-range cruise missile, has been a U.S. Navy mainstay for sea-launched attacks since Desert Storm in 1991. With a range of 800 to 1,500 miles, carrying a 1,000-pound warhead, it can fly low and fast, 550 mph—a combination that makes it difficult to shoot down. The 20-foot -long, 3,500-pound cruise missile can land on a dime—if that dime is a few feet in diameter. Raytheon makes almost 200 of them a year at an undisclosed location and sells them to the U.S. and U.K. militaries for $1.1 million each.