British military forces have intercepted a one-way attack drone launched from Iran towards Iraq, according to the Ministry of Defence.
In a statement released on Sunday, the MOD said UK forces “successfully engaged” the drone during defensive operations in the region. The incident occurred while RAF Typhoon and F-35 aircraft were conducting patrols as part of wider defensive activity across the Middle East.
The ministry said the engagement took place as UK aircraft continued defensive sorties alongside allied forces. “The engagement occurred as RAF Typhoons and F-35 jets continued to conduct defensive sorties across the region,” the statement said.
The announcement comes amid heightened tensions involving Iran and Western forces in the region. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has spoken with US President Donald Trump about military cooperation after criticism from Washington over Britain’s initial hesitation to authorise US strikes on Iranian missile sites. Downing Street later confirmed the Prime Minister granted permission for defensive US military action against Iranian missile positions to be conducted from UK bases.
The deployment of additional surveillance assets is also expected to strengthen allied air defence in theatre. A Royal Navy Merlin Mk2 helicopter equipped with the Crowsnest airborne surveillance and control system is due to arrive in the region, enhancing the ability to detect incoming drones and missile threats.
The Crowsnest system provides airborne early warning and command capabilities and is designed to identify both aerial and surface threats at range. The capability, operated from Merlin helicopters, is currently scheduled to remain in service until the end of 2029.
F-35 + Typhoon air patrols over Iraq from Akrotiri?
Surely this isn’t going to be headline news just shooting down ONE drone?
More to the point WHY are we spending £Ms getting POW ready to go to the eastern med when all the aircraft required for AD are already in Akrotiri or in the gulf states! Surely the money would be better spent on actually getting other ships ready to be able to go to sea if nothing else!
What other ships?
QE is in dry dock for scheduled work.
Three T45 are in deep refit, two are fully functional and Daring is working up.
Most of the RFA is inactive other than the Tides due to in year savings.
T23 are struggling as there are now only 7 very fragile hulls. One of which is fully deployable and the others are in over haul or have persistent defects: they are falling to bits party to do with cheap skating the refits to produce in-year savings….
Morning SB. I hope the “we’re okay brigade” are reading your post. What a state we’re in. 😒
We are OK for PoW, Merlin, Wilcat and to an extent F35B.
We will be ok for AAW when the PiP cycle finished and a normal CIP / upkeep cycle replaces it so that only one T45 is in deep maintenance at any one time.
The big problem is frigates and they fell apart faster than predicted as the T45 PiP program had been phased to that full T45 capability was in place as T23 number fell.
PR exercise, we have made ourselves look weak with our inability to dispatch one ship to the Med quickly.
I hope Argentina is not paying attention to this.
😂
9 days in, and the IRGC are proving to be a tough opponent. The missiles and drones keep coming
It was estimated that Iran may still have about 70 mobile ballistic missile launchers left.
I think the US/Israel will need to keep the campaign going for a few more weeks until we see Iran’s counterstrikes suppressed.
I’m not so sure as they will run out of launchers at some point.
They do have some fixed underground launch points too.
Drone will still be used when they can no longer launch BMs.
I’m certain they’ll be able to keep firing off drones for the rest of the year. They probably have underground manufacturing facilities.
Seems to be another ill-fated “3 day special military operation”…
I wouldn’t be surprised if we see drones flying from the Zagros mountains to the strait of Hormuz for the next few months if not longer.
I think Iran has realised that the most effective use of its military resources is to close the Straits and inflict economic mayhem planet-wide.
It’s still keep up other attacks, like that spectacular one that just missed the main terminal at Dubai airport the other day. Or the THAAD radars ($500m each) it knocked out on the first-day. But inflicting economic pain is the best way to TACO 🌮 their survival.
Also worth keeping in mind that this is going to boost Russian energy exports so they may be interested in helping them keep the strait closed.
Defo. The US has already given India a 30 day waiver to buy Russian oil because of the conflict induced shortage. Russia will want to see that extended.
Christ, talk about building up your part. Sometimes, in fact in war most of the time, it’s best to say nothing at all
Well said. Especially when you have nothing to brag about.
You can see it now POW leaves with a couple of F35s on deck,when she gets there all F35s already there gets quietly moved to her and then. Starmer tells the world what an incredible show of force we have here!
It could be more rational than that as the QECs are set up to sport deep maintenance on F35 as is Marham but is Akritori?
*support
Fair point but this fiasco could have avoided IF the govt had listened to the navy when they suggested putting Dauntless in place and with the few extra jets Cyprus and the gulf states could have been covered! As it is now we are going to be spending £Ms more of the defence budget that I’m sure the navy could have made much better use of!
It would make sense to move them all aboard rather than duplicating maintenance and arming on board PoW and Akrotiri. If dispatched I can see PoW being deployed closer to theatre to provide air-cover for tankers going through the Straits. It’s their closure that is the biggest threat to the UK economically.