Wednesday 16 December proved to be the most intensive day of combat operations by RAF aircraft since the start of the campaign in September 2014.

A pair of Tornados assisted the Iraqi troops battling Daesh on the outskirts of Ramadi, and used Paveway IVs to destroy two heavy machine-gun positions, a sniper team and a group of terrorist fighters.

In northern Iraq, two Tornados, two Typhoons and two Reapers, provided sustained close air support to the Kurdish peshmerga. Our aircraft delivered numerous precision attacks on terrorist targets, to the north and west of Mosul where the peshmerga were engaged in close combat with Daesh, using a mixture of Brimstone, Hellfire, Paveway IV and GBU-12 missiles and bombs. In total, these RAF strikes are estimated to have successfully destroyed four heavy machine-gun positions, two terrorist teams armed with rockets, three Daesh vehicles, one of which was a large truck-bomb, and six groups of terrorists.

In addition, the two Reapers were able to use their advanced reconnaissance sensors to assist twelve successful attacks by other coalition aircraft.

A further pair of Typhoons conducted tactical reconnaissance and another Tornado mission returned to Ramadi, where they destroyed a heavy machine-gun position and two terrorist-held buildings.