Cruise missiles at the ready as submarines move into position
THERESA MAY yesterday ordered British submarines in the Mediterranean to move within missile range of Syria in readiness for strikes against the Assad regime by the end of this week.
Whitehall sources told The Daily Telegraph that Britain was “doing everything necessary” to be able to fire Tomahawk cruise missiles from nuclear-powered submarines against military targets in Syria. One source said that “if any action is going to happen, it is going to happen before Monday”.
As of last night, Mrs May had not come to a final decision on whether Britain would join the US and France in any air strikes, but the Prime Minister wants to be able to act swiftly if and when she decides to join any offensive. The Royal Navy has three Astute-class submarines that could be heading towards Syria – HMS Ambush,
HMS Artful and HMS Astute. Their Tomahawk IVS have a range of 1,000 miles, meaning the subs would need to lie off the coast of Syria, Lebanon or
Israel while awaiting the order to strike. Each submarine can carry 38 missiles.
The alternative would be to send one of three Trafalgar class attack submarines that have been in service since the Cold War, which can carry up to 30 missiles. A Whitehall source said: “We are moving subs in, we are doing everything necessary operationally to do that. If any action is going to happen it is going to happen before Monday because once you start having a debate about it, it will be very difficult for No10 to do anything.”
Mrs May is understood to have resolved that any decision to join allied air strikes would have to be taken by the Cabinet rather than by Parliament, as delaying action will give Syria the chance to move its military assets near to Russian hardware, making it harder for the US or UK to get a clean strike. There was already evidence yesterday of Syria trying to move its aircraft out of range. Opposition groups said the Syrian regime was shifting military vehicles away from its airbase in Hama, a potential target for American cruise missiles. Activists also said Hizbollah, the Lebanese militant group supporting the Assad regime, was clearing its own positions near the T4 airbase in central Syria. Israeli jets reportedly struck the T4 base on Sunday night, killing 14 people, including seven Iranians. Michael Horowitz, a senior analyst at the Le Beck geopolitical consultancy, said that the regime would probably move its most sensitive equipment close to Russian forces, in the hope that the US would be less likely to risk accidentally striking Russian troops. European air traf- fic controllers yesterday issued a “rapid alert” for airlines in the eastern Mediterranean over the possibility of air strikes into Syria within the next 72 hours. The European Aviation Security Agency warned of possible launches of air-to-ground strikes or cruise missiles in the area.
The US does not have an aircraft carrier in the area yet, meaning strikes would have to be launched from the USS Donald Cook or the USS Porter, two US Navy destroyers already in the Mediterranean. The Donald Cook departed Larnaca, Cyprus, on Monday after completing a scheduled port visit.
The Donald Cook is one of four Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers that generally serve Europe and are part of a Nato rotation.
Either ship could be used to launch multiple cruise missiles at sites in Syria.
The US Central Command has been updating lists of possible military and government targets in Syria, including aircraft hangars, ammunition depots and command headquarters. Defence officials said one possibility was to render Syrian airfields incapable of being used to launch future chemical attacks.
The USS Harry S Truman, a nuclearpowered aircraft carrier, is scheduled to head to the region with a complement of strike and reconnaissance aircraft and surface warships sailing alongside. Satellite photos of the Russian naval base in Tartus, Syria, showed all 11 Russian battleships have left Syria.
Open-source flight tracking information revealed that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon was in the air south of Cyprus, near the Syrian coast, yesterday.
Interfax news agency reported a Nato surveillance plane was circling the northern border of Syria in Turkish airspace. Kuwait Airways last night said it was stopping flights to Beirut until further notice over safety fears for aircraft in the skies around Lebanon, after receiving warnings from Cypriot authorities.