BRITAIN is drawing up plans to scramble a warship to defend our Cyprus military base following a drone attack from Iran.
Government sources confirmed that ministers were “considering” deploying a Navy gunboat to RAF Akrotiri.
The base was hit by an Iranian drone on Sunday that came within 800 yards of UK personnel stationed on the island.
Defence Secretary John Healey has been in talks with officials over the past 24 hours over whether to send a warship – likely the Type 45 Destroyer HMS Duncan.
During that time French president Emmanuel Macron ordered two warships to guard Britain’s RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, after Cypriot leader Nikos Christodoulides pleaded for help shoring up the island’s defences.
Starmer is already under the cosh for angering US President Donald Trump and putting the Special relationship in peril.
France’s intervention comes hours after Greece also stepped in, offering military support following two drone incidents targeting Britain’s sovereign base on the island.
In the first strike, an Iranian-made Shahed drone slammed into the runway, causing limited damage, and two more drones were intercepted just hours later.
Senior Cypriot officials say the attack was carried out using an Iranian Shahed drone, likely launched by the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah from Lebanon.
They stressed the intended target was the British base – sovereign UK territory – not Cyprus itself.
The flare-up followed Britain’s decision to grant a US request to use its bases for “defensive” strikes against Iran, after Washington and Israel launched a military campaign that triggered retaliation from Tehran.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer later insisted Britain’s Cyprus bases were not being used by US bombers.
Cyprus has since urged the UK to restrict the bases to humanitarian operations only.
Athens has already dispatched four F-16 fighter jets and two frigates to the island.
One warship is equipped with the Centauros anti-drone jamming system – technology previously deployed against Houthi rebels targeting shipping lanes off Yemen.
Defence sources say Centauros can detect and disable low-flying drones like the one that evaded radar before crashing into RAF Akrotiri – exposing glaring vulnerabilities at the key British military outpost.
