A trade union has claimed that a new MoD contract is partly to blame for the time it is taking to get HMS Dragon ready for her Mediterranean deployment.

Prospect has said that a renegotiated Ministry of Defence contract for some staff at Portsmouth Naval Base, where Dragon and her Type 45 sister ships are based, may be contributing to delays to its deployment. It was revealed this week that Dragon would be sent to the Mediterranean to protect RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus from drone attacks, as the conflict unleashed by the US and Israel’s bombing raids on Iran continues.

Dragon is currently being loaded at the Upper Harbour Ammunition Facility jetty in the middle of Portsmouth Harbour. She is due to be moved back to the naval base at 4.30pm today, but there is as yet no confirmation of when she will set sail for Cyprus.

HMS Dragon being readied in Portsmouth on March 4 ahead of the warship’s deployment to Cyprus. | MA Drones

placeholder image — HMS Dragon being readied in Portsmouth on March 4 ahead of the warship’s deployment to Cyprus. | MA Drones

The new contract was based on the “fantasy that conflict only occurs between nine and five”, which means union members are volunteering to do overtime to get the warship ready, the union said.

As quoted by the website Politico, Mike Clancy, general secretary of Prospect, said: “Our members are stepping up to help, but such a vital service shouldn’t be dependent on good will from staff. Out-of-hours support should be locked into the contract. This contract has failed its first real encounter with a serious crisis, and must be urgently reviewed and rectified.”

Politico alleges that the new contract, with Serco, has switched some staff to 9am to 5pm roles, which has ended round-the-clock staffing. Serco has denied the accusation, saying: “HMS Dragon is being prepared to sail with the full support of our dedicated teams in Portsmouth. Serco has fulfilled every task requested by the Royal Navy on time and to the agreed standard. Any suggestion that the working patterns of Serco employees have impacted HMS Dragon’s ability to sail is completely untrue.”

The MoD has been approached for comment on the subject.

Two Royal Navy Wildcat helicopters armed with Martlet drone-busting missiles are also deploying.

Yesterday the Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that four extra British Typhoon fighter jets are being sent to Qatar to strengthen “defensive operations” in the region.

According to reports, the war has killed at least 1,230 people in Iran, more than 100 in Lebanon, around a dozen in Israel and six US troops.

On Tuesday defence secretary John Healey said: “We are moving quickly to further reinforce our defensive presence in the Eastern Mediterranean. HMS Dragon brings world-class air defence capability, and our Wildcat helicopters are armed with Martlet missiles to counter the growing drone threat.

“I am deeply proud of the professionalism and bravery of our Armed Forces personnel who have in recent days, successfully taken action across the region to protect our allies and defend British interests.”