Royal Air Force Typhoon FGR4s have operated alongside French aircraft in a combined operation targeting an underground arms cache in Syrian territory operated by the Islamic State group (IS), according to the UK's MoD.
The site, located using surveillance, was assessed as housing weapons and explosive materials, the announcement noted, and was situated in mountains just to the north of the historic site of Palmyra in the heart of Syria.
"Our fighter planes employed Paveway IV guided bombs to strike a number of entry passages providing entry to the facility... initial indications suggest the objective was successfully hit," the ministry announced.
There was no indication of any civilian impact in the operation on Saturday evening and each participating jet made a safe return, the defence officials confirmed.
The Typhoon FGR4s were supported by a Voyager aerial refuelling aircraft.
IS - alternatively referred to as the so-called Islamic State - enforced extremist governance over significant areas in Syria and Iraq until 2019.
"This strike demonstrates British leadership, and determination to stand shoulder to shoulder with our partners, to eliminate any re-emergence of the terrorist group and their harmful and extremist ideologies in the Middle East," Britain's Defence Chief the Defence Secretary stated.
RAF aircraft have performed patrols over Syrian airspace to "forestall any efforts to regroup" of Islamic State after its defeat at the climactic battle in Baghuz in 2019, the authorities noted.
"I want to thank the personnel of British forces involved in this strike for their professionalism and their courage," the Defence Secretary added. "Including them were a great many British troops deployed over the festive period. This operation, to remove terrorist threats who threaten our security, highlights how British military are prepared to act, continuously, protecting the UK within its borders and influential overseas."
Last December, the American forces conducted what it termed a "large-scale strike" on Daesh sites in Syria, after an attack killed two US troops and a civilian linguist in Palmyra.
The UN estimates Islamic State still boasts roughly 5-7 thousand militants in Iraq and Syria.
