Well, the Iranian attack on Akrotiri Airbase has shown, in clear view, the lack of Air Defences at UK airbases.
I predicted this last year: Delphius' Debate: British Military Wargamers Panic About Lack of Anti-Air Assets in the UK.
I also predicted that the only option we would have would to be deploy Type 45 Destroyers in the path of any incoming air threat, because that's the only assets we have capable of air defence. We have no land-based air defence assets capable of taking out drones.
Today HMS Dragon, a type 45 Destroyer, leaves Portsmouth headed for Cyprus. A multi-billion pound asset, designed to defend a carrier fleet, sent to defend an island against drones that cost hundreds of thousands of pounds.
A single Sea Ceptor missile costs around two million pounds.
This is a sledgehammer to crack a nut.
The MOD really needs to get on the case procuring a cheap, reliable air defence system capable of defending against drones.
Ideally a layered system, with small, cheap guided missiles providing longer range defence, then for close in work, we can have laser weapons mounted on mobile units (so they are not set in fixed, attackable positions) that can be moved around an airfield.
There are already systems available that can intercept ballistic missiles. Luckily the UK is too far away from Iran to be concerned with those (although it's not beyond the Iranians to develop the facility to launch missiles (say) from a beached ship).
But again, it would be prudent to look at procuring an air defence system capable of intercepting ballistic missiles, because we will require a defence against them eventually.
And the 6 type 45 destroyers we have won't protect the UK indefinitely. They can't defend two carriers at sea and the UK as well, all at the same time.
The UK and it's military bases at home and abroad are inadequately defended. It's time that changed in response to the increased threat from cheap drone-type threats.
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