HMS Dragon will finally set sail for Cyprus ‘in the next couple of days’ as Britain steps up its response to the Iran crisis, Defence Secretary John Healey revealed on Monday.
The Type 45 Destroyer will head to the eastern Mediterranean to provide extra protection as Tehran continues to lash out in response to US and Israeli strikes.
Iran has sent a barrage of missiles and drones across the Middle East in retaliation to the American and Israeli action.
British bases – including RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus – and UK allies in the region, such as Bahrain, the UAE and Qatar, have been targeted by enemy missiles and drones.
But, while other countries have sent ships to Cyprus since the outbreak of the conflict, the Royal Navy has no major warship in the Mediterranean.
Sir Keir Starmer has faced severe criticism over Britain’s preparedness, with the Prime Minister blasted for his ‘slow’ response to the crisis.
In a statement to the House of Commons on Monday, Mr Healey attempted to defend the Government and insisted the UK’s preparations ahead of the initial US-Israeli strikes had made a ‘real difference’.
He also thanked crews in Portsmouth for working 22 hours a day to get HMS Dragon ready for deployment.
HMS Dragon will finally set sail for Cyprus ‘in the next couple of days’ as Britain steps up its response to the Iran crisis, Defence Secretary John Healey revealed
Defence Secretary John Healey attempted to defend the Government amid severe criticism of ministers’ ‘slow’ response to the conflict
The Defence Secretary said: ‘I can confirm today that Dragon will set sail in the next couple of days.
‘And I want to personally thank all those who are working tirelessly, some 22 hours a day to get that ship ready.
‘HMS Dragon will join US air defence destroyers to provide additional protection in the eastern Mediterranean.’
Mr Healey gave MPs an operational update from Sunday night, including that the drone that hit RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus is being analysed for foreign military hardware.
‘The UK is now conducting defensive air sorties in support of the UAE. Typhoons successfully took out two drones, one over Jordan, the second heading to Bahrain,’ he said.
‘The third Wildcat (helicopter) has now arrived in Cyprus, and we’ve now deployed additional RAF operations experts in more than five countries in the region, helping coordinate regional military and civilian airspace.
‘And the fragments of that drone that hit Akrotiri are being analysed for foreign military hardware by our experts at DSTL (The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory).
‘British pilots have now racked up over 230 flying hours. We have eight jets in Qatar, including our joint Qatari-British squadron, who are flying in support of regional allies, and we have more jets in Cyprus than any other nation.
‘And I visited our 400-strong air defence teams at our base in Cyprus on Thursday last week. They’re there in addition to the 4,000 personnel regularly stationed on the island.
‘I was subjected to the daily air sirens that they face, I saw the impact that that Iranian proxy drone had caused, and I asked the commander of British forces General Tom Bewick, do you need anything more from us back in Britain? And he said to me, “No, I’ve been given everything I have asked for”.’
The Defence Secretary said Britain had ‘moved significant military assets into the region’ ahead of the first US-Israeli strikes, adding: ‘Those preparations made a real difference.
‘It meant we’ve conducted defensive military operations from day one, our F-35s destroying Iranian drones over Jordan, our Typhoons shooting down targets heading to Qatar, our counter-drone units defeating further attacks against coalition bases in Iraq.
‘We acted early to protect British people and British interests and to support our allies.’
HMS Dragon, a Type 45 destroyer, has been moored in Portsmouth while other nations have sent ships to the Mediterranean
Mr Healey thanked crews in Portsmouth for working 22 hours a day to get HMS Dragon ready for deployment
Mr Healey also confirmed the first US bomber landed at RAF Fairford on Friday, after the UK gave the US permission to use British bases for specific defensive operations.
Senior Tory MP James Cartlidge, the shadow defence secretary, claimed the delay in sending a Royal Navy ship to the Mediterranean had ‘completely undermined Britain’s international standing’.
He said: ‘Last week the Cypriot foreign minister said, and I quote, “There are questions about the future of the UK’s military bases on the island”.
‘Isn’t the reality that Greece, France and Spain are all sending ships and that Labour’s failure to deploy the Royal Navy to the eastern Mediterranean has completely undermined our international standing, not just in the eyes of our many allies in the Middle East, but also in the eyes of those who can now exploit such weakness?’
Mr Healey replied by calling Mr Cartlidge an ‘armchair general’.
He said: ‘While we have been building up that significant military presence in the Middle East since January, which he, for the first time, has recognised and welcomed, it is totally right that as circumstances change, so should our military posture.’
The Defence Secretary criticised the Conservatives’ record in government with the Royal Navy and added: ‘We only have HMS Dragon available to go to the Middle East today because the Labour government commissioned it before 2010.’
Earlier on Monday, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said Sir Keir had been ‘too slow’ to respond to the Iran crisis and had been ‘on the back foot’.
She claimed the PM had been distracted by his domestic woes and the Peter Mandelson scandal.
She told Sky News: ‘This is a difficult situation, we all understand that. But he has been too slow to recognise what was coming down the line.
‘We now know he was warned about these strikes much earlier – he did absolutely nothing.
‘He was too slow to let the US use our air bases, he was too slow to protect our troops in Bahrain, in Cyprus. HMS Dragon, our warship, is still docked in Portsmouth.’
Mrs Badenoch added: ‘This all shows he has been on the back foot because he’s been distracted by his own job issues, the Peter Mandelson stuff, losing his chief of staff. He’s not been focused on what’s been going on in the world.’
