British to deploy armed Reaper drones over Syria in battle against Isil

Ministry of Defence confirms British drones to fly reconnaissance missions over Syria in significant escalation of involvement in conflict

British armed drones and a spy plane are to start flying over Syria in a significant escalation of the war on Isil and an apparent reversal of the government’s refusal to work with the Assad regime.

RAF Reaper remotely piloted aircraft are being moved from Afghanistan to the Middle East to fly the armed reconnaissance missions inside Syria, alongside a Rivet Joint spy plane

The Government said the Reapers would not be authorised to carry out air strikes without parliamentary approval. However, David Cameron has indicated an exception would be made if urgent action was needed to prevent a humanitarian crisis, or protect a British national interest, such as a hostage.

The government refused to confirm or deny that the deployment had been discussed with representatives of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, whose overthrow it backs but with whom it now finds common cause in the war against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

But there has been no attempt by the regime to stop other members of the American-led coalition fighting Isil from flying over and bombing sites in Syria.

A Downing Street spokeswoman said: "We are clear what the legal case is - that's collective and national self-defence."
Asked to clarify if that meant there was "no agreement at any level" over allowing British flights, she said: "I can point you to the basis on which we are acting, collective and national self-defence based on the Isil threat."

American warplanes have been bombing Isil targets in Syria since September 23. A defence source said: “The Syrians have not fired on any coalition aircraft yet.”

That has led to speculation the campaign has the agreement of the Syrian leader.

Another Whitehall source said the Syrian regime appeared to be tacitly accepting the air strikes.

He said: “There’s no suggestion the Americans are actually in cahoots with Assad. The assumption is it’s realpolitik on his part. He just doesn’t want to get drawn into something with the Americans by shooting at their planes.”

The willingness of the West to intervene in Syria against Isil having stood largely on the sidelines in the face of the regime’s bombing of the “moderate” rebel forces and civilians has infuriated the Syrian opposition, many of whose members now accuse it of collaborating with Mr Assad.

In making the announcement, Michael Fallon, the Defence Secretary, said the Reapers would begin flying from a secret base in the Middle East "very shortly". They are flown by satellite link from RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire and will be armed with Hellfire missiles.

Both the Reapers and the spy plane are expected to fly above the range of portable anti-aircraft missiles that may have fallen into Isil hands.

He said: "As well as their operations over Iraq, both Reapers and Rivet Joint surveillance aircraft will be authorised to fly surveillance missions over Syria to gather intelligence as part of our efforts to protect our national security from the terrorist threat emanating from there.

"Reapers are not authorised to use weapons in Syria; that would require further permission."

RAF Tornados stationed at Akrotiri on the southern coast of Cyprus have been flying armed surveillance missions over northern Iraq since mid-August and have been hitting Isil targets for a month.

A Rivet Joint spy plane, which carries sophisticated eavesdropping sensors, has also been flying over northern Iraq from its base at AlUdeid in Qatar.

The MoD announced last week that two MQ9 Reapers from the RAF’s 13 Squadron would be moved from Afghanistan to a secret base in the Middle East. Britain has 10 of the aircraft, but this will be their first mission outside Afghanistan, where they have carried out more than 4,500 sorties since 2008.