UK warship HMS Dragon not expected to sail to Cyprus until next week

The British warship being readied to protect a UK military base in Cyprus is not expected to sail until next week, officials say, as conflict spirals in the Middle East.

HMS Dragon is being loaded with ammunition in Portsmouth having just recently come out of maintenance.

The Type 45 Destroyer had been earmarked to carry out a different mission - before Sir Keir Starmer confirmed on Tuesday that HMS Dragon would be deployed to the Mediterranean region.

It comes days after a drone struck the runway at RAF Akrotiri, causing what the Ministry of Defence (MoD) described as "minimal damage".

Western officials say the Shahed-type drone that struck RAF Akrotiri was not fired from Iran. However, officials would not say where the missile originated from.

Some have questioned why the UK did not send a ship to the region sooner, given the build up of US military in the region and President Donald Trump's public threats to attack Iran. The Royal Navy has no major warship in the Mediterranean region.

Earlier on Wednesday, government minister James Murray was asked how long it would take for HMS Dragon to arrive in the Mediterranean.

"I'm not going to get into operational detail, but it will be as soon as possible," he replied.

The Treasury minister said defensive capabilities around Cyprus had increased in recent weeks.

He added: "We've been building up F35s at our bases in Cyprus, Typhoons in Qatar, radar capability, all of the defensive capability which is important to enable us to protect British armed forces, British nationals in the region."

On Tuesday the MoD said UK armed forces had shot down drones in Iraq, Jordan and Qatar in recent days.

Two Royal Navy Wildcat helicopters are expected to arrive in Cyprus separately and sooner; while British military experts are being sent to the Middle East region to help allies with advice on air defences.

The Wildcat helicopters are equipped with Martlet missiles which are designed to counter drone attacks.

The Royal Navy has six Type 45 Destroyers, with three of those at various stages of readiness and the other three in maintenance and unavailable.

The MoD said HMS Dragon, which is crewed by more than 200 people, was "one of the most capable air defence warships in the world" and could launch eight missiles in under 10 seconds.

"We are reinforcing our defensive presence in the eastern Mediterranean," the MoD told the BBC.

"Royal Navy Wildcat helicopters armed with Martlet drone-busting missiles are deploying within days. They will reinforce our RAF Typhoons, F-35B jets, ground-based counter-drone teams, radar systems, and Voyager refuelling aircraft already deployed.

"Our jets are now flying continuous sorties to defend against indiscriminate Iranian strikes threatening UK people, interests, and bases.

"The Royal Navy are working as fast as possible to prepare HMS Dragon for deployment, including resupplying her air defence missiles at our ammunition facility in HMNB in Portsmouth."

On Tuesday, Downing Street said Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer had spoken to the president of Cyprus and "expressed his outrage at the drone attack" on the RAF base.

Former Royal Navy commander Tom Sharpe told BBC Radio 5 Live it was a good decision to send HMS Dragon but "too late".

"In naval planning terms we were probably 10 days behind what was a pretty obvious requirement.

"We've been sitting in RAF Akrotiri staring at the Hezbollah threat for a very long time now. We actually practised sending a Type 45 there in 2013.

"That we find ourselves in the position where we got hit in a known shooting war inside a missile threat is pretty incredible."

He described the Type 45 as like a "billion dollar sticking plaster" that would "throw a net over whatever is within missile range", but Sharpe added there should have been more ground-based air defences and counter drone technology at RAF Akrotiri.

The prime minister has been reluctant for the UK to be heavily involved in the conflict with Iran, drawing criticism from Trump after refusing to allow the US to use UK bases for strikes.

On Sunday, the UK agreed to Washington's request to use British military bases - likely to be RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire and Diego Garcia - for "defensive" strikes on Iranian missile sites.

However, following that decision the prime minister told MPs the UK government "does not believe in regime change from the skies", leading Trump to say he was "not happy with the UK" and saying of Starmer: "This is not Winston Churchill that we're dealing with."

The US Air Force has not yet carried out any bombing missions from British bases, officials said. A Western official said so far US bombers have not used Diego Garcia or RAF Fairford - but said the UK was ready to accept them. The official said he expected them to arrive within the next few days

Former Conservative chancellor Sir Jeremy Hunt told BBC Radio 4's Today programme it was a mistake to "weaken" the UK's relationship with the US, as Britain and Europe rely on the "brute strength" of the American military for defence.

He said the use of UK bases was a "relatively minor" request and the government should have gone along with it.

Meanwhile, some British nationals stranded in the Middle East are due to be flown home later, with a chartered plane due to leave Muscat International Airport at 23:00 local time (19:00 GMT).

More than 130,000 Britons have registered their interest in being helped to leave the region since war broke out over the weekend.

Separately, the Iranian ambassador has been summoned by the UK government, Foreign Office minister Chris Elmore told the Commons in Wednesday.