To Donald Trump, the UK’s involvement in the US assault on Iran – letting American bombers use RAF bases for “defensive operations” – amounts to joining the war after “we’ve already won”.
Even so, the first US B-1 Lancer planes began to land at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire at the weekend before joining the bombing campaign. Boeing C17 Globemaster transport planes have also landed at the base.
It’s the latest involvement of British military resources in the conflict after Keir Starmer announced more defensive deployments last week and spoke to Trump on Sunday in an apparent attempt to smooth over the tensions.
The foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, told the BBC that despite the decision to allow US planes to land at RAF bases for Iranian operations, the government would not be “outsourcing [its] foreign policy” to the US.
Here we look at the extent of the UK’s involvement so far.
The air campaign
The UK refused to join the US and Israel’s airstrikes on the Iranian regime and its missile launch sites when they began a week ago, drawing the ire of Trump and the right wing of British politics.
However, last week the government confirmed that RAF Eurofighter Typhoon and US-made F-35 jets were used to back up the safety of its allies in the Gulf in “defensive operations” – in effect to shoot down drones.
Starmer told a press conference on Thursday that four more Typhoon jets were being sent to Qatar to support air defences in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates after Iranian drones and missiles struck the UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has separately said it has flown missions to protect Bahrain and Jordan. An RAF F-35 pilot shot down two drones last week.
The MoD also said the RAF’s counter-drone unit downed drones in Iraqi airspace that were heading towards “coalition forces”. A Typhoon jet shot down an Iranian attack aimed at Qatar, it added.
More helicopters have been sent to the region. Two Wildcats arrived in Cyprus on Friday to bolster air defences against drones. On Saturday the Royal Navy deployed a Merlin helicopter to RAF Akrotiri to take part in surveillance work.
Land bases
The US had asked Britain before it launched the strikes whether it could use Fairford and the base in Diego Garcia, which is subject to the controversial deal to give the archipelago to Mauritius and lease it back, for its attacks. However, the UK rejected this.
Starmer later changed his mind on not being involved as Iran struck its neighbours, many of them British allies, in the Gulf in retaliation for the US and Israel’s campaign. He instead said they could be used for strikes to defend other Middle Eastern countries.
US air force bombers and transportation planes then landed at Fairford at the end of last week and over the weekend before being deployed onwards to the region.
The UK’s airbase at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus has been attacked by an Iranian-made drone that military officials believe was launched by the Tehran-backed Hezbollah militia in Lebanon. A hangar used for US U-2 spy planes was damaged.
The pilot who shot down Iranian Shahed drones aimed for Qatar is based at Akrotiri. The UK is sending 400 more air defence personnel to its Cyprus bases.
Matthew Savill, the director of military sciences at the Royal United Services Institute, a defence thinktank, said the UK could also be sharing intelligence with the US. “There might be a broader recognised air picture that we could be sharing,” he said.
“We’ve got a radar up on the hill at Cyprus that will be looking out over the region. There’s obviously a US carrier group in the eastern Mediterranean. Would we be sharing our radar picture with them and in return receiving information from them? You don’t know what information sharing is going on behind the scenes.”
However, there has been criticism from Cypriot officials over the slowness in the defence of the island from attack.
Kyriacos Kouros, the Cypriot high commissioner to the UK, told BBC Two’s Newsnight people in the country were scared and disappointed by Britain’s inaction. “The people could expect more,” he said.
Activists in Cyprus held a demonstration against the two UK bases on the island on Saturday. Protesters could be seen carrying banners saying “British bases out”.
Sea
HMS Dragon – a Type 45 destroyer – is expected to leave the UK bound for the Middle East early this week.
The destroyer is equipped to defend against medium-range ballistic missiles and drone attacks. According to the Royal Navy it can launch eight missiles in under 10 seconds and guide up to 16 missiles. Its onboard flight deck and hangar can house a Merlin helicopter for patrol work, attacks and search and rescue.
The Royal Navy is also reducing the readiness time for HMS Prince of Wales aircraft carrier, one of its most powerful surface warships.
The vessel, based in Portsmouth, had its readiness to move shortened from 10 days to five. It would need to be escorted by other boats and a submarine.
Savill said the UK’s maritime presence was far smaller today than in previous decades, when Britain had a “heavy presence”. He said the shift had taken place in recent years amid a transition period in the wider armed forces.
He said: “The truth is that our presence in the Middle East, which previously was reasonably substantial, has been dwindling for a number of years and was largely maritime. We have a foundation there, we have a set of relationships, we have a set of facilities … but we’re moving from a much lower baseline than we’ve had previously.”
