Royal Navy: Humongous amount of money spent to fire HMS Diamond missiles at Houthi rebels in Red Sea revealed

According to the Daily Express, every missile shot by Portsmouth-based HMS Diamond cost between £1m and £2m. The Type 45 destroyer obliterated "multiple attack drones" earlier this week, which defence secretary Grant Shapps said belong to militants in Yemen - which are supported by Iran.

The attacks happened overnight between Tuesday and Wednesday, Mr Shapps added, with pilotless aircraft being destroyed by guns and Sea Viper missiles. The politician warned that further attacks against the Houthis would be possible.

The national publication said carrier-based jets and warships reportedly shot down 21 drones and missiles during the engagement. Although each Sea Viper missile comes at a seven-figure cost, the one-way attack drones the Houthis are believed to be using cost much less. The definite price of each Iranian Shaheed 136 drone and its variants isn't known, but a £15,700 is often discussed.

Be in no doubt at all Iran is guiding what is happening there in the Red Sea, providing them not just with equipment to carry out those attacks but also often with the eyes and ears to allow those attacks to happen,” he told Sky News. "We must be clear with the Houthis, that this has to stop and that is my simple message to them today and watch this space.

The Houthi militants have previously claimed they are targeting any vessel they believed to be visiting Israeli ports - amid the ongoing conflict with Hamas in Gaza. It remains to be seen what form any further action might take from the US, the UK and other allies. There has been speculation that a response could involve strikes on the Houthi command centres.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: "I am not going to speculate about how we will or will not respond to continued attacks. We do reserve the right to take further steps to protect commercial shipping and avoid the risk of further destabilising the region. That is something we will keep under review."

HMS Diamond is currently part of Operation Prosperity Guardian, alongside French and American forces. Plymouth-based Type 23 frigate HMS Richmond has also been deployed to the Red Sea.

Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron told MPs on the Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday that Houthi attacks in the Red Sea which had come in the wake of the Gaza conflict were “unacceptable” in one of the “most important sea lanes”.