News Digest

France not Britain now second biggest force in IS air campaign

France has overtaken Britain as the second biggest contributor to the air campaign against Islamic State. The UK government has long claimed that position but since the arrival of French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle in the Gulf last month, the French are putting up more planes on more sorties over Iraq. French warplanes now fly between 12 and 15 sorties a day, more than three times the amount of RAF jets.

We have been focusing our military contribution where it can have the most impact - airstrikes in support of Iraqi forces, providing vital intelligence, surveillance and air-to-air refuelling capabilities to the coalition.

U.K.’s Ministry of Defence

The UK, in contrast, has eight Tornados based at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus. They fly an average of two sorties a day, in pairs. French officials told Sky News they do not see it as a competition but consider their military to be the second biggest contributor, not the RAF. In response, the Ministry of Defence said British planes had carried out a greater number of airstrikes. Of a total 2,738 strikes, 2,203 have been carried out by U.S. jets. British planes have carried out 170 strikes verses 42 French ones. The Charles de Gaulle is significant as the only non-US nuclear carrier in the world. The UK does not own an operational aircraft carrier after scrapping HMS Illustrious and HMS Ark Royal as part of the 2010 defence and security review.