HMS Dragon has carried out live gunnery serials in the Arabian Sea, testing her Phalanx close-in weapon system and 30mm guns while operating in the Middle East.
Imagery from the ship shows a gun crew in anti-flash clothing and body armour working one of the 30mm mounts, and a Phalanx system firing. The serials also covered quickdraw drills, the practice designed to bring weapons to bear at short notice against a close-range surface threat.
According to the Royal Navy, the Portsmouth-based destroyer is conducting operations in the region in preparation for and support to a potential multinational mission. Her tasking covers area air defence, maintaining freedom of navigation and maritime security, and supporting the return of commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
Dragon remains in the region alongside RFA Lyme Bay, with both operating out of the UK Joint Logistics Support Base at Duqm in Oman.
Dragon is the fourth of the six Type 45 air defence destroyers, commissioned in 2012 and named in the ship’s badge and markings after the Welsh dragon, a nod to her affiliation with Cardiff. The class carries the Sea Viper missile system with Aster 15 and Aster 30 rounds fired from a 48-cell Sylver vertical launcher, paired with the Sampson multi-function radar mounted at the masthead, an arrangement designed to defend a task group against saturation missile attack.
The close-range weapons exercised in the Arabian Sea sit at the opposite end of that layered defence as Phalanx is a radar-directed 20mm rotary cannon that engages targets automatically once cued, intended as the last line against missiles or fast attack craft that have penetrated the outer defences.
The 30mm mounts, manually operated from a director, are aimed at small boats and slow-moving threats, the sort of engagement that has become routine in Gulf waters.
The class has undergone a substantial upgrade programme in recent years. The Power Improvement Project replaced the original diesel generators with more powerful units after propulsion failures in warm waters affected availability across the fleet, and the ships are being fitted with Sea Ceptor missiles under the Sea Viper Evolution programme, adding quad-packed rounds to the existing launcher and increasing magazine depth against drones and anti-ship missiles.
Sister ship HMS Diamond shot down Houthi drones and an anti-ship ballistic missile in the Red Sea during 2023 and 2024, marking the first time a Royal Navy warship had engaged a ballistic missile at sea, and HMS Duncan subsequently took over the task. The Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly a fifth of global oil supply passes, has seen commercial traffic reduced during the recent periods of regional escalation.
The Duqm facility on Oman’s south eastern coast gives the Royal Navy a dock and support base outside the Gulf itself, meaning ships need not transit the strait for maintenance.
I was under the impression that the Sea Ceptor would be installed in new VLS forward of the existing VLS not packed into the existing VLS. It is possible the author means that Sea Ceptor will be quad packed into a new VLS. Perhaps a 6 cell VLS. I would be good to fit 2 such VLS to give 48 Sea Ceptors. I would also like to see the 4.5 gun replaced with the 56mm for better anti-air. Their is also the fitting of NSM no doubt 8 will be fitted I think there is room for 16 – this should be done too. Dragonfire will be fitted as an anti-drone measure. If feasible it would also be good to replace the side Phalanx with 40mm to give commonality with Type 31. One of the removed Phalanx could be relocated to the hanger roof. These upgrades would significantly inprove anti-air.