Five French Rafale fighters launched the country’s first offensive strikes against ISIS targets in Syria, completely destroying a terrorist training camp in the Euphrates river valley on Sept. 27, defense officials announced. French aircraft have flown a total of 12 intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance sorties over Syria since Sept. 8, gathering target information to begin offensive operations, according to the Armée de l’Air. The fighters, supported by a KC-135FR tanker and Atlantique 2 ISR aircraft, departed bases in Jordan and the Persian Gulf for the five-hour mission against targets in southeastern Syria, Sept. 27. A total of 12 French fighter aircraft supported by AWACS, tanker, and maritime patrol aircraft have supported anti-ISIS operation in Iraq—dubbed Operation Chammal by the French—since last September. Naval aircraft operating from the carrier Charles de Gaulle are also contributing to strike sorties from the Persian Gulf.
President Donald Trump’s nominee for Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff touted his highly unusual background for the job as an asset and reaffirmed his commitment to stay apolitical during a confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee on April 1.