Thayer Consultancy Background Briefing:

ABN # 65 648 097 123

U.S. Tomahawk Missile Strike
Carlyle A. Thayer
April 9, 2017

[client name deleted]

We request your assessment of the U.S. missile strike on Syria.
The United States fired Tomahawk missiles into Syria in response to the Syrian
governments use of chemical weapons this week that killed more than 80 civilians.
The Pentagon announced that 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles had been fired from two
U.S. Navy destroyers in the eastern Mediterranean Sea to attack Al-Shayrat airfield in
Syria.
The Tomahawk missile is described as a modern, mature, powerful weapon capable
of precise strikes on high-value targets with minimal collateral damage. However,
the Russian Defense Ministry said that the US missile strike on a Syrian airfield wasn't
very effective, with only 23 out of 59 Tomahawk missiles reaching their target. The
locations of the remaining 36 missiles impact is currently unknown.
Q. What is your assessment of the announcement by the Russian Defense Ministry? Do
Tomahawk missiles really have such low efficiency?
ANSWER: We have two diametrically opposed versions of the cruise missile strike. The
United States says all 59 Tomahawk missiles his their targets. The Russian Defence
Ministry says only 23 successfully hit their targets. That is a failure rate of 61 percent.
The United States has used Tomahawk missiles before with no evidence of such a
colossal failure rate. The Russians are masters of information war and disinformation.
The claims by the Russian Defence Ministry should be discounted if not dismissed as
propaganda.

Suggested citation: Carlyle A. Thayer, U.S. Tomahawk Missile Strike, Thayer

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Thayer Consultancy provides political analysis of current regional security issues and
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