Days after an attack on a military base in Cyprus, a British warship has set sail to the West Asia theatre. While the United Kingdom has not joined the US-Israeli war on Iran, it has joined defensive operations, taking down Iranian missiles and drones attacking British and partners’ interests.
Days after an attack on a military base in Cyprus, a British warship on Tuesday set sail to the West Asia theatre to join defensive operations.
The warship is headed to RAF Akrotiri, one of the two British bases in Cyprus. It will be joined by Wildcat helicopters in defensive operations.
The government has put two more ships, aircraft carrier Prince of Wales and landing ship RFA Lyme Bay, on standby for deployment to the region.
During the ongoing war, RAF Akrotiri has been targeted at least twice. A Shahed-type drone struck a hangar at the base on March 1. The air defences neutralised another attack on March 4.
While the United Kingdom has not joined the US-Israeli war on Iran, it is part of defensive operations in the region. British warplanes are flying frequent sorties and F-35s and Typhoons have taken down Iranian projectiles over the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Jordan, and Bahrain. Defence Secretary John Healey has also said that anti-drone units are also working in Iraq.
UK sends warship to West Asia theatre — finally
The British warship, HMS Dragon, left Portsmouth a week after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced the deployment. Critics have said the delay raises questions about the government’s will to defend British and partners’ interests in the region and puts under doubt the military’s ability to fulfil its mission.
HMS Dragon set sail to the West Asia theatre days after French President Emmanuel Macron announced a mission to deploy nearly a dozen warship to the region.
French warplanes have already joined defensive operations in West Asia to take down Iranian projectiles.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly slammed Starmer for not initially allowing the United States to use British bases to launch initial attacks on Iran. When the UK announced joining defensive operations after the beginning of the war, Trump said the United States did not need British help anymore.
Despite the rhetoric, US warplanes have been sighted taking off for operations from RAF Fairford, a British airbase in the UK, according to media reports.
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