Iran: 'Proud' HMS Dragon joins forces with mammoth France aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle in Middle East
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The British destroyer is preparing for a potential mission in the Strait of Hormuz - which has seen closures caused by Iran
British sailors aboard a Portsmouth-based warship have joined forces with a huge French aircraft carrier.
HMS Dragon has united with FS Charles de Gaulle and her French Carrier Strike Group. The Paris warship 261.5m long and weighs 42,500 tonnes.
Commander Iain Giffin, Commanding Officer of HMS Dragon, said: “Dragon is proud to be representing the UK, working alongside the French aircraft carrier FS Charles de Gaulle, and its task group. Alongside the French, Dragon has been building greater understanding of regional activity and patterns of life.”
HMS Dragon joined with the French group in the Gulf of Aden in the latest phase of her operations. Initially deployed to the eastern Mediterranean after RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus was hit by a kamikaze drone - at the beginning of the Iran and US-Israeli war - before passing through the Suez Canal.
British personnel are preparing to be part of a multinational operation to keep the Strait of Hormuz open when conditions allow. The strategic waterway, where roughly 20 per cent of the world’s crude oil flows through, has been in Iran’s stranglehold in response to US-Israeli bombing raids. Energy prices have skyrocketed across the globe, as well as the costs of raw materials.
France is taking a lead in the operations. CO Giffin said HMS Dragon was the perfect training partner for them. “Type 45s were designed to work alongside a UK aircraft carrier and therefore is the perfect asset to integrate with the French aircraft carrier,” he added.
“Dragon’s advanced surveillance capability can detect potential threats many miles away and provide early warning to the rest of the task group. Integrating fast jets with maritime activities is core business for a Type 45 and I am pleased that Dragon can bring her organic expertise and equipment to bare to not only protect the aircraft carrier but also provide early warning of potential attack.”
HMS Dragon is equipped with the Sea Viper missile system. Wildcat helicopters stand alongside her, armed with drone-busting Martlet missiles. The deployment follows Dragon’s completion of rigorous weapons and sensor testing at a NATO facility off Crete, where the ship’s company honed their skills, including live firing, in realistic, high threat conditions to ensure readiness for operations in the Middle East. Experts from Royal Navy Digital’s Maritime C5i Support Unit (MCSU) have been working behind the scenes to help ensure the safety of the ship.
The directorate’s Technical Security Team conducted a vulnerability assessment of the maritime data-transfer system used for ship-to-shore data transfer to ensure that critical data pathways remain resilient against cyber intrusion, tampering, or exploitation. The Cyber Threat Intelligence team provide tailored intelligence on the expected cyber and information threats within the area of operations, which enables the ship to anticipate hostile activity and adapt its defensive posture accordingly.