Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Operation Shader" in English language version.
Two British C130 cargo planes were involved in dropping off the first batch of supplies.
A "small number" of Chinook helicopters would also be sent for "further relief options", the Foreign Office said.
Troops from the 2nd Battalion Yorkshire regiment had been sent into the Kurdish capital Irbil for 24 hours to prepare the ground for a possible rescue mission by the helicopters.
The RAF currently operates two Airseeker aircraft [...] The aircraft and its aircrew and support personnel operate from a forward base in the Middle East as part of the RAF's 901 Expeditionary Air Wing.
Over four nights, the UK has successfully delivered a total of seven air drops of clean water, shelter and solar lamps with mobile phone chargers to help thousands of displaced Iraqi people.
We have moved several additional Royal Air Force jets and air refuelling tankers to the region. These will bolster Operation Shader, which is the UK's existing counter-Daesh operation in Iraq and Syria.
The first Operational Atlas load was delivered to Op SHADER in Cyprus on 3 Mar – a sign of things to come.
RAF C-17 aircraft have also transported a range of non-lethal support, to be gifted by the UK to Iraq, to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus which will be transported on to the Kurdish forces.
[...] we are sending an additional Air Seeker aircraft into the theatre to improve the surveillance capability that we have.
Oliver Colvile, Tory MP for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport, tabled a question to the Deputy Prime Minister asking about the likelihood of Royal Navy involvement in the campaign. "He said there was already a submarine in the Persian Gulf," Mr Colvile told The Herald.
The UK government has repeatedly insisted that any such training mission would not constitute 'boots-on-the-ground' although British Special Forces are operating in the region.
SAS and American special forces are working with Kurdish fighters on the Iraqi front lines as part of a major offensive to push Isil jihadists back and relieve pressure on the besieged Syria town of Kobane, senior Kurdish military officers have disclosed.
An RAF Rivet Joint surveillance plane equipped with listening devices has also been flying missions from al-Udeid air base in Qatar to eavesdrop on Isis communications.
RAF C-17 aircraft have also transported a range of non-lethal support, to be gifted by the UK to Iraq, to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus which will be transported on to the Kurdish forces.
Oliver Colvile, Tory MP for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport, tabled a question to the Deputy Prime Minister asking about the likelihood of Royal Navy involvement in the campaign. "He said there was already a submarine in the Persian Gulf," Mr Colvile told The Herald.
