Tomahawk missiles launched by U.S. Navy ships destroyed 20% of Syrian air force warplane fleet 11104171

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Defense & Security News - United Stats
 
Tomahawk missiles launched by U.S. Navy ships destroyed 20% of Syrian air force warplane fleet.
The April 6 U.S. military missile strike that targeted Shayrat airfield in Syria was a measured response to Syrian President Bashar Assad regime’s April 4 chemical weapons attack in Khan Sheikhoun, Syria, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said in a statement issued April 10, 2017.
     
The April 6 U.S. military missile strike that targeted Shayrat airfield in Syria was a measured response to Syrian President Bashar Assad regime’s April 4 chemical weapons attack in Khan Sheikhoun, Syria, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said in a statement issued April 10, 2017.
USS Ross (DDG 71) fires a tomahawk land attack missile April 7, 2017. USS Ross, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, forward-deployed to Rota, Spain, is conducting naval operations in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations in support of U.S. national security interests in Europe and Africa.
     
The U.S. missile strike on Syria's Sharyat airfield Thursday took out 20% of President Bashar Assad's operational warplane fleet, according to a statement issued by Pentagon chief Jim Mattis on Monday.

According to the Pentagon, Thursday, April 6, 2017, a total of 59 Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles were launched from the USS Porter and USS Ross, two U.S. Navy destroyers in the east of the Mediterranean.

The release follows earlier comments issued by the U.S. military's Central Command spokesperson Colonel John Thomas, who said that more than 20 Syrian jets had been destroyed at Sharyat airfield, near the city of Homs, Agence France Presse reports .

The Syrian military had reported significant damage but Russian defense said only six Syrian warplanes were destroyed, according to the BBC.

The Tomahawk is a long-range, all-weather, subsonic cruise missile. Introduced by General Dynamics in the 1970s. Tomahawk can be launched from a ship or submarine and can fly into heavily defended airspace more than 1,000 miles (1,610 km) away to conduct precise strikes on high-value targets with minimal collateral damage. Launching the weapon from such a long distance helps to keep sailors out of harm's way.
     
The April 6 U.S. military missile strike that targeted Shayrat airfield in Syria was a measured response to Syrian President Bashar Assad regime’s April 4 chemical weapons attack in Khan Sheikhoun, Syria, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said in a statement issued April 10, 2017.
Civilian Mariners and sailors assigned to the Military Sealift Command submarine tender USS Frank Cable (AS 40) lift a submarine capsule launch system (CLS) Tomahawk cruise-missile practice shape as part of a Tomahawk site certification