Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the (a) scale and (b) result is of recent air operations against ISIL.
There are some 60 nations involved in the coalition and over a dozen in ongoing air activity over Iraq and Syria. The UK has deployed two types of armed aircraft in the operation against ISIL; the Tornado GR4 and the Reaper, Remotely Piloted Air System. As at 31 January 2015, these aircraft have flown 392 missions and released 206 weapons against ISIL targets. The UK have also provided other aircraft to perform surveillance, air refuelling and air transport roles. In concert with Iraqi and Kurdish ground units, coalition air activities have helped to check ISIL's advance and in some places begun to reverse that advance.