laststandonzombieisland

With the hectic week in the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea, the absence of the Royal Navy in a region that was a British lake for generations was noticed.

Then, with Iranian drones hitting the RAF Akrotiri base in Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean, a response was needed from the Admiralty.

Then news came that only two of six Type 45 destroyers are operational, and the one that can get to Cyprus the quickest, HMS Dragon, can’t leave port until next week at the earliest. At least Dragon will deploy with two Royal Navy Wildcat helicopters armed with Martlet drone-busting missiles.

“HMS Dragon’s helicopter fires infrared flares during an exercise over the Type 45 destroyer. MOD Photo

Both of the country’s carriers are sidelined for extended maintenance, as are four of seven Type 23 frigates. Meanwhile, all of the RN’s Astute-class submarines are in port, and none are likely to head to sea anytime soon.

Graphics from the Daily Mail.

This is a far cry from the old Armilla Patrol, which kept a couple of escorts deployed in the region in the 1980s and 90s (with two RNZN frigates sent by the Kiwis to take over the duty during the Falklands).

Then there was Operation Kipion, which kept 4 minesweepers (No. 9 Mine Countermeasures Squadron), an RFA support ship, and a rotational frigate, but this stood down recently with the last minesweeper, HMS Middleton (M34), now back in the UK after being carried home on a heavy lift vessel.

Royal Navy Bahrain, February 2021, when they had the frigate HMS Montrose, minehunters Brocklesby, Chiddingfold, Shoreham, Penzance, and the RFA Cardigan Bay. The Brits have no naval forces in the region currently

The United Kingdom Naval Support Facility (UKNSF), formerly the ‘stone frigate’ HMS Jufair in Bahrain, was established in 1935 and, as of a few weeks ago, was no longer running, one last vestige of colonial power shelved.

The RAF is a little better, as a few F-35Bs, supported by RAF Typhoon fighters and a Voyager air-to-air refueling aircraft, have been deployed to police the airspace over Qatar and Jordan and have reportedly shot down uncrewed aerial systems over the latter– the first time an RAF F-35 has shot down a target in combat.

Further, a British Typhoon operating with the joint UK-Qatar 12 Squadron shot down an Iranian one-way attack drone directed at Qatar using an air-to-air missile on Monday.

Hugh Dowding is no doubt giving his navy pals hell.