The HMS Dragon will take more than a week to reach Cyprus

The warship being readied to protect the British base in Cyprus is not set to sail until next week as conflict spirals in the Middle East.

HMS Dragon is being loaded with ammunition in Portsmouth before departing for the Mediterranean after RAF Akrotiri was hit by a drone in the early hours of Monday.

Britain has faced questions about its preparedness to protect its overseas bases after the drone attack, but officials said there was nothing that would have happened to ready a warship any earlier.

They would not specify where the drone, which struck Akrotiri, had come from, but said assessments showed it was a Shahed type, but had not been launched from Iran.

Defence officials said increasingly fragile geopolitics with many different security threats made the situation complex and prevented the government from sending the ship any earlier.

HMS Dragon was chosen because it was the readiest for the mission, officials said.

Meanwhile, Royal Navy Wildcat helicopters armed with Martlet drone-busting missiles are being deployed within days, before the warship, to bolster defence in the region, they said.

The Type 45 air defence destroyer is intended to strengthen protection against drones and missiles launched by Iran and its proxies, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The destroyer’s voyage from Portsmouth to Cyprus is expected to take several days.

The vessel was seen taking on supplies at Portsmouth’s upper harbour ammunition facility on Wednesday morning.

Defence Minister Al Carns said the ship needs to be adapted before it can set sail, telling Sky News: ‘What I will say is that that vessel was being fitted out for a different task. We’ve now completely re-rolled it.

‘We’re going through varieties, different bits of maintenance, to make sure that as fast as possible we can get that system up and running.

‘We’ve had to change weapon systems on it, finish welding, get it up and running, and get it sailing as fast as possible.’

He would not get into detail about the UK’s missile stockpiles but said he had ‘complete confidence in the planning capacity and capability of the military to ensure we’re properly prepared for any eventuality’.

A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: ‘We are reinforcing our defensive presence in the Eastern Mediterranean. Royal Navy Wildcat helicopters armed with Martlet drone-busting missiles are deploying within days.

‘They will reinforce our RAF Typhoons, F-35B jets, ground-based counter-drone teams, radar systems, and Voyager refuelling aircraft already deployed.

‘Our jets are now flying continuous sorties to defend against indiscriminate Iranian strikes threatening UK people, interests, and bases.’

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