BRITAIN had to play second fiddle to France in the Syria airstrikes after budget cuts left us with a "depressing" array of ageing jets and ships unable to fire missiles. The UK blasted Syria with eight Storm Shadow missiles from RAF jets in a blitz on chemical factories that saw 105 missiles fired in total. But the Royal Navy's Type 45 Destroyer HMS Duncan was unable to fire cruise missiles and was out-muscled by France's The Languedoc. The £1 billion ship has a space on deck for a cruise missile launcher but it was scrapped to save cash, according to reports. Instead, it was stationed as an "air defence" ship in South East Cyprus to protect against any threat against RAF Akrotiri from Moscow as four French warships sailed into the attack zone. It means Britain's only way of hitting its target in the joint US, France and UK strikes was to use four Tornado GR4 jets that will be retired next year after 40 years of service. They were protected by four Typhoons, which … [Read more...] about Britain had to let France take lead in Syria strikes after cuts left us with NO ships that can fire missiles and ageing fighter jets