Sir Keir Starmer confirmed the UK would be sending the ship, one of the Royal Navy’s six Type 45 air defence destroyers, after the attack on RAF Akrotiri.

FIVE of Britain’s six £1billion destroyers were in port being repaired while the RAF base in Cyprus came under attack. Only one of the Royal Navy’s top air defence ships was fully

The UK is deploying Type 45 destroyer, HMS Dragon, and drone-busting Wildcat helicopters to the Eastern Mediterranean to boost British defences in the region.

The British warship with orders to defend a base in Cyprus from attacks by Iran is unlikely to set sail until early next week.

The UK MoD has confirmed that its F-35B Lightning stealth fighters engaged and destroyed drones over Jordan, as it announces additional protective measures for RAF Akrotiri. Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced via social media shortly after 1600 UTC on Mar.

The helicopters - from the Royal Navy's 815 Naval Air Squadron - will have missiles onboard which are designed to intercept and shoot down incoming drones, defence officials said. It comes a day after the runway of the British air base in Cyprus, RAF Akrotiri, was hit by a drone. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said it sustained "minimal damage".

Now, after nearly 66 years as an independent nation, Cyprus has found itself embroiled in another Middle Eastern maelstrom primarily because it hosts two large and significant U.K. military bases, the vestige of its British colonial past.