The UK Royal Navy’s (RN’s) Type 45 destroyer HMS Dragon has been redeployed from the Eastern Mediterranean to the Middle East to potentially support an independent multinational mission. This mission aims to secure international shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, should the US/Israel versus Iran conflict reach a decisive stage.
Dragon has been stationed in the Eastern Mediterranean since late March, deployed there to protect UK national interests against the risk of any spillover from the war in the Gulf, which broke out a month earlier. According to the UK Ministry of Defence, pre-positioning Dragon to the Middle East will ensure the ship is ready and available to support any multinational mission to secure the Strait, as and when conditions permit such a mission to be established.
In its conflict with the US and Israel, Iran has utilised its ‘overwatch’ position above the Strait to effectively block it by targeting shipping with missiles and drones, and by creating the threat of potential mine deployment. This action has given it considerable strategic leverage in the war but has also significantly impacted global maritime trade. Energy and other resource supplies pass through the sea route that crosses the Strait.
Iran’s mine threat shows that any mission to secure the Strait after conflict must be a combined, multi-domain effort. Escort ships such as destroyers and frigates can counter air and surface threats. For example, the RN’s Type 45s are equipped with the Sea Viper surface-to-air missile system. Nevertheless, specialised capabilities will be crucial for the subsurface domain, which is a specialised area. In response, the RN has already started preparing to support possible international mission requirements by converting the auxiliary vessel RFA Lyme Bay into a naval mine warfare ‘mothership’, fitted with uncrewed underwater vehicles and related command-and-control systems to conduct mine-hunting operations. Lyme Bay is also based in the Mediterranean.
Any multinational mission to secure shipping through Hormuz is likely to include the French Navy. France’s FS Charles de Gaulle carrier strike group sailed from the Eastern Mediterranean towards the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden region earlier in May.
The UK and France have been leading international diplomatic efforts to build a coalition military force that could support secure shipping transits through Hormuz once conditions – especially an enduring cessation of hostilities – allow.
by Dr. Lee Willett
