AT her secret Middle East base, RAF Warrant Officer Tina is taking the fight
to IS – flying killer drones to attack the terror group who she likens to
Nazis.
The Sun was granted exclusive access to the base, dubbed The Rock, where daily
sorties are launched over Iraq and Syria.
Tina — whose full identity, like those of her colleagues, is protected for
security reasons — says: “I compare these guys to the Nazis, the way they
came along and treated people and tried to enforce their beliefs on people.
They’ve got to be stopped.
“If we weren’t doing what we are doing now this could spread across the whole
world.
“We’re here to maintain the freedom of the people and protect the people.”
The crew, officially named the Launch and Recovery Element, are responsible
for the Reaper drones’ take-off and landing.
Once drones are airborne, control is switched via satellite link to either
Creech Air Force Base near Las Vegas or RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire, from
where they are flown by a pilot who has trained on air force jets or
helicopters, while a navigator operates the sensors.
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The Reapers are operated from a windowless converted shipping container called
a Ground Control Station (GCS), stacked with monitors and flight controls.
The GCS mimics the exact set-up of a jet cockpit, including a joystick with
trigger for releasing weapons.
The two-man flight crews are backed by an intelligence officer who monitors
the feeds.
Last year Reapers flown from the dust-bowl airbase wiped out British jihadis
Reyaad Khan and Ruhul Amin, and provided additional “eyes in the sky” for
the fatal US strike on executioner Mohammed Emwazi, AKA Jihadi John.
The Reaper team have all conducted operational missions over Iraq and Syria,
where they are turning the tide against IS.
RAF Reapers have now spotted IS commanders fleeing the Iraqi city of Mosul
ahead of a mass offensive, a top commander revealed.
Vital intelligence gathered by the fleet confirms that senior leaders are
sneaking west to the terror state’s Syrian capital, Raqqa.
A senior RAF commander told The Sun: “We’re seeing clear evidence of senior
Daesh leadership leaving Mosul.
“They know what’s coming.”
The UK has ten Reapers which are primarily used for providing an unblinking
gaze on the ground — but if needed, air crews can unleash a terrifying
arsenal.
Each Reaper can carry up to four Hellfire missiles and two Paveway II 500lb
bombs.
The sudden strikes have spread fear among IS, forcing them to change tactics.
Squadron Leader Mark said: “I believe it is the air platform they fear most
because they don’t know it’s there.
“There is the fear they are always being watched.
“There is nowhere to hide.”
Unseen surveillance and strike footage released to The Sun shows the Reaper in
action, watching IS fighters and destroying a vehicle parked under a
tarpaulin.
The RAF says its “rigorous” targeting means it has caused no civilian
casualties since the air campaign began in 2014.
Such statistics fly in the face of the anti-drone lobby, which sees Reapers as
robot death machines with no human control.
Flight Lieutenant Tim said: “The disappointment is the British misconception —
it makes you feel like they just don’t get it.
“That anti-drone killing machine myth is out there, and it’s going to be very
hard to break down.”
Group Captain James Frampton, of 83 Expeditionary Air Group, said: “I’m
enormously proud of what the guys here are achieving.
“This is such an important fight, and one we can’t afford to lose.
“It not only affects regional stability, but it is critical to maintaining the
safety of the people and infrastructure of the UK.”