HMS Duncan, a Type 45 destroyer, and an RAF Typhoon FGR4 successfully tracked and neutralised an aerial threat during a counter-drone training exercise in the Mediterranean, according to a Royal Navy press release.
The exercise, named Aphrodite Trident, took place south of Cyprus and aimed to refine tactics and procedures against airborne threats, particularly uncrewed aerial systems.
The exercise featured close cooperation between the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force, with HMS Duncan working alongside a Typhoon FGR4 from RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus. The RAF’s 83 Expeditionary Air Group provided oversight, monitoring the exercise’s progress via satellite from a Combined Air Operations Centre (CAOC).
Lieutenant Jonny Miller, a flight controller on HMS Duncan, highlighted the importance of the exercise, stating, “This exercise has proven that we can defend ourselves, our colleagues and our allies from attack. It really shows why what we do matters.” The exercise simulated an enemy drone attack, with HMS Duncan’s Wildcat helicopter playing the role of the hostile drone, flying a pattern directly towards RAF Akrotiri.
Upon receiving an alert from the CAOC about the imminent threat, the RAF Typhoon Detachment based in Cyprus responded swiftly. The Typhoon, under the tactical guidance of one of HMS Duncan’s Fighter Controllers, known as ‘Freddies,’ intercepted the simulated drone. These RN Warfare Officers specialise in overseeing fast jet missions, ensuring their objectives are met from a safe distance.
Using its radar, HMS Duncan tracked the low-flying ‘drone’ and transmitted the radar data to the Typhoon’s onboard sensors. This capability allowed the Typhoon to locate and eliminate the threat well before it reached its target.
Wing Commander Morris, Commander of the RAF Typhoon Detachment, commented on the exercise’s success, stating, “A Typhoon pilot on a scramble has to deal with many dynamic tasks in a very short period of time. HMS Duncan’s capabilities provide us the ability to quickly meld voice comms with a digital picture in the cockpit, thus reducing the time to identify and engage targets whilst maximising distance from the defended asset.”
Given threats made against Cyprus and British bases on the island by Hezbollah it would seem prudent to move some land Ceptor batteries there now if we don’t already have some on the island like we do in the Falklands. It might also make sense to get a NATO ally to deploy an ABM system as well as we can’t keep a T45 parked there all the time.
I’d tend to agree.
That said there could be a Sky Sabre system there on the QT and this could be part of testing and integrating it.
We do have more than one Sky Sabre unit…..allegedly…..
6 at the mo, 2 of those are in Poland who are looking to buy 100 Sky Sabre.
Cyprus is not a NATO member so why should a NATO member use one of its assets to defend it? It’s a UK problem, not a NATO problem. IF the UK can’t defend its assets in Cyprus, it shouldn’t expect other countries to do so.
Uh?
Cyprus is used to support NATO operations and as basing for US aircraft.
So it follows that it is in NATO’s interest to help secure the base…..that isn’t very controversial…..what is annoying is that we don’t have the kit to do the full job ourselves.
Agree, as the base is often used for nato ops, Greece or Italy could give a hand seeing as they are bloody close.
Yes and NATO and the EU could give Greece and Italy a hand in stopping all the illegal immigration coming across the Mediterranean into Europe and then more often than not to us.
Over here in Italy they are talking about banks but Not about the situation in UK. God bless all the good people back in blighty
The Uk territories are formally covered by the NATO treaty anyway.
Agree
Didn’t seem to assist us much in 82….
Because FL isn’t covered due to it being South not North.
North
Atlantic
Treaty
Organisation
Ukraine and Libya must be in Atlantic then
No idea what you mean.
UKR isn’t part of NATO but Mad Vlad antics have woken NATO up from its Cold Thaw slumbers and frightened the non aligned(s) into joining.
Mad Vlad has done an excellent job of rejuvenating NATO. He must be so pleased 😁
New Zealand offered to assist as they were “just round the corner”, so to speak but Maggie turned them down! I also remember the 1st it was heard about by a radio ham who lived not 500 yards us. He rang the local police and reported what he’d heard and they basically laughed at him! 2 days later it was on the news!
Because the NATO treaty is specificity geographically..north of the Tropic of Cancer…nothing south of that tropic is included.
👍Exactly!
Our bases’s on Cyprus are part of NATO as they are UK sovereign territory, that’s why.
💯Exactly!
👍👍👍👍👍…correct. you were probably posted out there like I was. A great strategic island for the Middle East. Fought the Gulf Wars from there…👍👍
Umm you do realise that part of Cyprus is a UK overseas territory and that territory is therefore covered by NATO..the UK territory is also full of NATO member forces which again means it’s covered by NATO. So yes an attack on the UK sovereign territory in Cyprus would be covered by the treaty..Also the U.S. has a couple of military bases on the the UK territories…
Sorry, but I didn’t see any assistance from NATO in 1982…
Thats because the Falklands are not in the area covered by the NATO treaty…our Mediterranean sovereignty territories are covered…i wouls suggest a read of the treaty it’s very interesting and helpful.
So u think that Cyprus isn’t in nato so therefore it’s a uk problem ? Uk bases on Cyprus are uk land and the uk is in nato I will also point out that our bases in Cyprus is one of the most used bases in nato by other nato countrys
Correct, people who don’t know should probably just keep quiet🤫.
I believe an old Yorkshire saying goes like, if you know nowt, say nowt, and maybe nobody will notice.
The British bases on Cyprus are sovereign to the UK being officially classified as British Overseas Territories. As such, should they be attacked by a foreign power they would in fact be attacking the UK, NI and all its Territories, and by default NATO as well. It is therefore also a NATO problem.
The SBA is within NATO area!
British bases in North Atlantic and Mediterranean are in NATO. Working hard as usual, for your masters in the Kremlin!
You do understand what a Sovereign Base Area is ?
Guess not.
Educate yourself on the SBA’s position in the British overseas territory set up.
So that would make the garrison in the Falklands covered by NATO, strange, i don’t remember seeing NATO troops deployed….
Falklands is outside the geographical Nato boundaries.
Didn’t you know that?
However the FI defence costs are ring fenced inside the NATO spending of the MOD to ensure no Govt can cut it. Clever bit of accounting
There is a NATO assigned radar on top Mount Olympus.
There’s British sovereign territory there mate
Perhaps if we didn’t use Cyprus as aircraft carrier there would be no threat. Perhaps if we didn’t support Israel there would be no threat. Imagine how much money could be saved if we stopped poking out noise into other countries business
Appeasement has never worked out fine! Learn your history!!
A criminal will keep coming back for more!
We might make a short term saving, but a long term loss.
Batteries! If only.
I believe there are 4 Fire Batteries in 16RA, one of which is split between Poland and the FI, 1 Fire Group each.
Numbers remain vague, I’ve read of anything between 2 and 4 launchers per FG.
So what defines a “system”?
This area needs a major expansion via the RAF Regiment so the army Batteries can concentrate on their primary role in the field.
I agree we need more and the RAF needs to bring it back in house as well.
Agreed 👍
Sabre is a bit weird with regards to what consist a system because of its ability to take sensor input into the control system from any source.
I would say a control unit (and its ancillaries) and some launchers. Radarand EO can come from anywhere else.
Thanks. So, by reading that, it could be one “system” per FG if multiple launchers are included.
I don’t think it is ‘weird’ it is the way of the future. It makes total sense to me.
Having a squillion dedicated radars all over the place makes no sense when radar heads can be networked together to create a much better long range picture that allows better resource allocation against threats.
Using an Ethernet or microwave link is a lot cheaper than buying, managing and upgrading loads of radar sets.
As others have pointed out there is already a radar station on Mount Olympus that covers it.
That could provide the data to the control systems.
I did comment back from my phone on this but its not appeared here . Bit strange… Anyway I agree it is the future. Sabre can take Patriot radar input and use that. Any decent 3d radar input can be used. The clever bit is the fridge sized box of electronics box doing the trig calculations for future target position in 3d space and calculating the missile position in 3d space then moving the missile via data link to get close enough to go active. You could take any sensor input. EO, EW racket bearing lin, Link track data. In… Read more »
Evening Daniele, has there been any further news to come out of the GBAD UK conference held back on the 7th July? Besides the Vamtac order with Starstreak /LMM that is. They would have talked a fair bit..but any new breadcrumbs of information for the rest of us? If nothing is happening then maybe we should change it to “VBAD”… 😁
Afternoon Q!
I have no more information.
We might have to consult the 🔮!
It’ll come out in the wash eventually mate.
They’re on record saying SHORAD to triple, MRAD to double, and there are 6 different AD programs for the army, from smash sights to new missile platforms.
What all that actually means re the ORBAT is what I’m most interested in, and they’re delaying saying very much.
Six things going on with GBAD is quite a bit. They’ve got to know what’s required, just got to go do it all and in good time.
…and given that Russian TV pundits are threatening lobbing 3x nukes (all that it would take) to make an example of the UK to stop supporting Ukraine, it may be worth the UK investing pronto in a serious ABM and long-range nuke-armed cruise missile shield.
I agree we should be investing in ABM, not really sure what happened to UK participation in sky shield. Seems to have all gone quiet.
“Russian TV pundits” I wouldn’t worry too much about them to be fair, delusional muppets mostly drunk on Vodka and propaganda. 3 Nukes on the UK would not end well for them. 🔥
Maybe we should send in a black ops team to vanish the pundits. A lot cheaper and safer for the world in general than trading nukes.
I wonder how they’d react if the west started fighting fire with fire in that regard?
Oh gimmie a break, if ruzzia was stupid enough to fire ANYTHING at the UK, it would be totally destroyed, whilst NATO hasn’t assisted anyone other than the US so far, a direct attack on us would result in art 5 deployment against ruzzia, and the stated response of a nuclear attack IS a retaliatory nuclear attack, which would absolutely happen, and whether nuclear or conventional, ruzzia would NOT exist afterwards and they know it… (and considering how bad their military has been equipped in Ukraine, I have serious doubts whether their strategic forces are in any better shape those… Read more »
…the trouble is there are many nutters in Russia (including Generals) with vodka-addled brains, intoxicated on some Soviet-Era mission to seek a new world order. If a “limited” nuke attack specifically on the UK happened, the UK has no credible air defence system to cope with this. Sure, a full-on attack and there would be nothing to be done, but I am on about a rouge attack from Russia (or other terrorist Nation) aimed only at the UK. Surely now is the time to put in an air defence system that could at least cope with this limited scenario, as… Read more »
“No Batteries included”, Good film.👌
I don’t think the Sovereign Base Area is extensive enough for ABM, maybe only short range Land Ceptor. Or just base ABM launchers on the Dhekelia SBA to defend Akrotiri SBA only? And Land Ceptor on Dhekelia only. Radar is not needed, because there is a British radar on Mount Olympus.
Turkey may object, if sited too close to their territory?
Upgrade Mount Olympus(Cyprus) radar to full ABM?
And Turkey of course is a NATO member.
👍
Interceptor missiles are very expensive, drones are very cheap. So, however many interceptors you deploy, you’ll run out before Hezbollah runs out of drones.
The smart response is to burry everything valuable in concrete bunkers /tunnels.
If it’s attacked then we should bomb Hezbollah into the Stone Age . The U.K. has become far too soft . That’s the problem .
All UK bases at home and all around the World should have adequate missile defences, it’s sadly lacking and needs to be corrected. We can’t rely on one T45 to be patrolling off shore, we can barely operate two at a time. Land Ceptor should be a bare minimum and not just Cyprus and FI’s.
Who remembers when HMS Ocean was sent up the Thames to guard the Olympics ? What a joke that was.
Baker, the obvious lack of missel defences around key British bases both home and abroad has also puzzled me for some time. With the rapid expansion of drone technology I would hope past and current practises are being constantly reviewed. Drone swarms pose the most difficult targets to eliminate and anti drone systems may need to be deployed at non military sites too! The terrorists are constantly measuring weaknesses in our domestic and military security and that needs to be addressed with visual and tangible deterrents, if only to reassure the public.
Well, that’s two of us who feel the same at least ! 😶
3
Option 1 was a T45 but the missile debris falling on a populated area was the problem. The other problem, high as a T45 mast us that London is a valley.
Option 2 was Starstreak in high buildings coupled with a radar on a high point. Backed the cabs on Ocean for drones that nobody was taking seriously enough.
As part of option 2 Rapier was sited in a few places but it was of doubtful utility.
Ocean went up for other reasons not AD. That was covered by Rapier and Starstreak deployed in the London area. Prior to Ocean going up there the proof of concept was done by HMS Bulwark. During the Olympics, Bulwark covered the Sailing areas around weymouth whilst Ocean covered the Thames. We didn’t do AD with stuff going whoosh and bang at all but we did do Small Boats/ORCs, Helo Ops, SF, Military to Civilian Authorities co-ord using the rather extensive comms systems we had from VHF, UHF, HF, Satcom Mil and Commercial, TETRA Radio special fit, Radar, Link picture and… Read more »
I didn’t hear about HMS Ocean in that role. How would she have provided missile defences? I do know we positioned Rapier FUs on top of blocks of London flats.
She was for heli rapid response and as a floating base mate. Sniper teams in the helis, RIBs on the Thames.
Starstreak were on tower blocks, yes, not sure if Rapier was placed up on buildings or just on high ground somewhere.
SF had a Troop on standby at a certain London Barracks.
SRR had people, including women, in the crowds for surveillance.
What you say sounds right. Rapier was on the ground and Starstreak up on high buildings. Wiki under the title ‘Security for the 2012 Summer Olympics’: “The Rapier sites were: Blackheath Common Oxleas Wood, Eltham William Girling Reservoir, Enfield Barn Hill, Netherstone Farm, near Epping Forest. In addition two sites were selected for Starstreak missiles. They were at the top of tall buildings closer to the Olympic Stadium. One of the sites was the water tower of a factory converted into upmarket flats in Bow. The other was a 15-storey block of council flats in Leytonstone. The residents of the… Read more »
Interesting, I’d not come across the actual locations chosen before, thanks.
Would be wise to have a sky sabre system in place but has we know they are so few. Can’t see it happening has UK airfields have no AD System on the mainland. 🚀 😞 🇬🇧
Hezbollah have a hell of a lot of ballistic missiles..their primary target is Isreal, but there is a real risk that they could try and hold NATO at risk..there really is a need for a ground based air defence system that can also manage a short range ballistic missiles.
Please can headlines make it clear when something is training and not a real attack?
You ought to try reading MSN headlines, feck me, you’d think WW3 was happening every hour !
Genuine question, what happened to Cam and Ron 5 ? both of them would have been all over this article. 🤔
Old, old posters from way back.
Ron 5 may be around with another ID. The last I saw of Cam was when the subject of the holocaust and concentration/death camps reared its head here, and he was saying that, to him, it was all fake.
It pissed quite a few off, so maybe banned??
I suggested he should have a look at Himmlers Posen speech for starters, as this denial crap is ludicrous.
It was a very odd thread for sure.
Anyway let’s steer off that horror….
Please stop with the radicalized headlines. People have family based in Cyprus.
Spot on. Click bait headlines again.
This is a ridiculous test.
A helicopter has a far larger rader signal than a modern drone. Plus real drones are cheap, so can come in groups of dozens, not one at a time.
The navy is just pretending they have an answer to the problem of drones, but they don’t.
It’s only a matter of time before Cyprus comes into direct attack and as always we will be caught with out pants down. I’ve been there many times, I always felt it was very vulnerable, considering all the belligerent groups/countries in close proximity. Cyprus for one example is in the MEZ for SA5 from Syria!
Cyprus is a worry has I said in an earlier post.Need to get a sky sabre system in place ,if we can fine one 🙄plus beef up security has attack can easily come from within .👍
Seeing as Cyprus is one of the most heavily Militarised Islands in the Northern Hemisphere i wouldn’t worry too much.
Not so sure Paul.
It, and the region around, is one of the most heavily surveyed.
So we would see the incoming, not sure we would stop it, depending on the threat.
I am not going to discuss operational matters, but as a base commander of Akrotiri, I’d be worried, as usual British react not proact
…and lots of Russians there.
Oh yes lots of Russian mobsters and purple haired ladies…no idea what the purple hair was all about…
….top or bottom? 🙂
What Oleg wants Oleg gets.
Have you been there? I have…..
I worked in Cyprus for 2 years..Limassol near Akrotiri. Strange island, not nice atmosphere..people riddled with angst, fanatical about money. Got the feeling its a powderkeg. Glad to get out.
Yes 😊
Before one doe’s anything. We have to ask the British government. Do we or don’t we retaliate.. And of course by then incident has happened and long gone..instead of just letting the forces get on with their job of defending and stifling the threats from middle east..!!
Is it the same rapier that failed to produce results in the Falklands against the Argentine airforce or has it got more whistle and bells on it now
Field Version 3 was the definitive final version
8 missiles per launcher.
New radar
EO auto tracking
New missiles.
It was Rapier in name only when compared to the version deployed in the Falklands.
My husband is currently in Cyprus defending his country. He’s a sergeant in the Marines and I hate that he puts his life on line every day. I long for the day he comes home to his family.💔
So, during a training exercise (where they already know strikes are imminent), the Royal Navy managed to intercept an aerial vehicle with a speed comparible to a bi-plane.
Kinda feel this shouldn’t be a celebratory achievement…
So it was just an exercise then? No real threat? The thumbnail made out Akratiri had been threatened and HMS Duncan neutralised it! Don’t say the navy is resorting to click bait now? Why not just say, “exercise in the Mediterranean Sea was a success”? After all guys, your never going to say it was failure. How about you get them home and see how good they are at defending our own waters! You won’t need click bait then guys, infact, your server won’t be able to cope(bit like our border control).
About time the stupid creatures called HUMANS grew up and realised this beautiful planet does not just belong to humans. The only people who win eventually at war are the finance (banks etc…) and arms manufacturers!