3,300 miles round trip for just 9 bombs?!
“3,300 miles round trip for just 9 bombs?!”
The ship itself holds about 500 tons of ordnance, but they do some re-supply at sea from tender ships, to extend their time on station. Also, planes from the ship could land at regional airfields to arm, or to operate from for some time.
Actually, I now see that they have pulled the aircraft carrier back for other missions, but keep their commitment to the operation (about 30 aircraft) land based in the region - much cheaper and safer than carrier operations.
But they did come in blasting in glorious fashion when they entered the battle, and they got plenty of targets serviced in Raqqa as well. Syria has a long connection to France. back to the Crusades.
The French have been really solid in supporting the fight against ISIS - not only airpower, they also had a direct support artillery battalion on the ground in Syria, firing into the very last scraps of ISIS territory in Deir-ez-Zour.