'Missiles targeting UK jets' over Iraq

British warplanes attacking the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria have reported coming under attack from surface-to-air missiles, a senior commander says.

Lieutenant General Mark Carleton-Smith said the superior defensive equipment deployed by the military coalition meant that the militants - also referred to as Daesh - had so far failed to bring down a coalition aircraft.

"We have always made the operational assumption that the Daesh inventory might at some juncture include surface-to-air missiles," he told reporters in London.

"There have been reports of engagements - several are of United Kingdom aircraft - but to no material effect as a result of the defensive aids suites that they are carrying and the tactics the coalition employs. They detect the missile as it is launched."