Iran: 'Complex airspace' secured by Royal Navy helicopters as hours of patrols protect against drones
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Naval aviators have been in the skies on a daily basis protecting against drone and missile threats
Keen-eyed helicopter pilots have completed hundreds of hours of patrols over Cyprus in the backdrop of the Iran war.
Crews of Merlin and Wildcat helicopters have completed extensive missions over six weeks securing the eastern Mediterranean. Royal Navy personnel were deployed to RAF Akrotiri after a kamikaze drone struck one of the base’s hangars. It was believed to have been fired from a pro-Iranian militia in Lebanon or western Iraq.
RAF and Royal Navy aircraft have since been scouring the skies for further threats to the British base. Type 45 destroyer HMS Dragon was deployed three weeks after the attack took place. The war started on February 28 after a bombing raid from a US-Israeli coalition, with subsequent retaliatory attacks from Iran engulfing the Middle East in chaos. The US and Iran have signalled a new round of peace talks are expected to be held in Pakistan, with a fragile two-week truce due to expire.
The ‘Crowsnest’ Merlins more typically serve with the UK’s two aircraft carriers, but have been working seamlessly alongside HMS Dragon’s radars. This provides an aerial picture covering hundreds of square miles of the eastern Mediterranean. The area has turned from a quiet airspace to one filled with civilian and military aircraft.
Commander Sammy Haynes, Commanding Officer of 825 Naval Air Squadron, said: “It’s a busy and complex section of airspace, with a mix of civilian and military aircraft continuously operating. It is also a very busy area for maritime traffic, with civilian ships coming in/out of the Suez Canal interwoven with local fishing vessels, passenger ferries, cruise ships and a significant number of warships from a variety of nations. This makes Cyprus a very complex operating environment in which to conduct both air and surface defence.”
How do the Royal Navy and RAF work together?
Information gathered from the naval aviators is shared with RAF and Fleet Air Arm pilots flying F-35 Lightning interceptors, as well as Wildcats and air defence troops on the ground armed with Martlet missiles.
These projectiles are designed to take out small aircraft, helicopters and drones, light vehicles on the ground and small boats/craft at sea. Operated across the armed forces, they can be fired either from pylons on weapons wings attached to Wildcat helicopters, Stormer armoured vehicles or from launchers used by soldiers, the RAF Regiment or the Royal Marines Air Defence Troop.
They can accelerate to speeds in excess of one and a half times the speed of sound. Once its 3km warhead detonates, it peppers its target with shrapnel while devastating the target on impact by travelling at around 1,150mph.
There have been no live engagements in the eastern Mediterranean, but the Wildcats are airborne daily and have already flown more than 100 hours of sorties. They are joined by Merlin Mk2 Airborne Surveillance and Control helicopters – known as Crowsnest – of 820 Naval Air Squadron, which has dispatched its aircraft to Akrotiri from its home at RNAS Culdrose in Cornwall.
Culdrose’s Commanding Officer Captain James Hall said: “Although these are exceptional circumstances, providing protection from aerial threats such as drones or missiles is a core capability for which the team at 820 Squadron is well trained and capable. I am delighted at the way Merlin Helicopter Force has responded and stepped up to defend our nation – alongside our current commitments to protect UK interests in the Atlantic and the High North – to ensure we meet our defence obligations as required by the government.”
Cdr Haynes added: “We are immensely proud of what personnel and aircraft have achieved in Cyprus. The rapid deployment of helicopters, aircrew and engineers has provided a credible defence against emerging threats. Our personnel integrated seamlessly into the layered air defence network, and we remain ready at all times to keep the people of Cyprus safe.”