Britain ‘needs its own Iron Dome defences’

THE United Kingdom needs an Iron Dome to boost defences against missile and drone attacks after Iran’s attack on Israel acted as a “wake-up call” to the West, senior defence figures have said.

There is concern that although Britain has a comprehensive air defence strategy, the country lacks land-based systems to defend London or its nuclear power stations.

Tobias Ellwood, a former chairman of the Commons defence committee, said the changing nature of modern warfare, where Britain’s adversaries launch huge barrages aimed at overwhelming air defence systems, meant the country needs a “permanent umbrella of security” as a last resort.

Iran fired more than 100 ballistic missiles and hundreds of drones and rockets at Israel over the weekend in an attempt to inundate its state-of-the art Arrow missile defence system.

Of the barrage of projectiles, at least five ballistic missiles were not intercepted and slipped through the defences. Similar tactics have been used by Russia to swamp Ukraine’s amalgamation of Western and Soviet-era surface-to-air systems.

Mr Ellwood told The Telegraph: “We need to prepare for all scenarios. We need to prepare for a multitude of types of attack from the non-state to state actors. And that will require investments, absolutely, in an Iron Dome for the UK.

“This must be seen as a wake-up call,” Mr Ellwood added. “We must recognise where the world is going. We need to invest. It’s absolutely important to spend 3 per cent of GDP. How do we spend it? This [air defence] is a great example.”

Israel’s Iron Dome air defence system has been heralded as one of the world’s best.

The Jewish state has at least 10 missile batteries capable of intercepting enemy munitions, at a success rate of 90 per cent, across the country.

Mr Ellwood added: “Clearly because of the character of modern warfare there, we need a permanent umbrella of security defending our key locations.

“The sheer number of drones and missiles centred at any one time is done with intent that some will penetrate any air defence system.” Mark Francois, the former armed forces minister, said: “We have nothing remotely comparable to the very comprehensive Israeli Iron Dome system, bar a very few missiles, with limited range.”

Britain relies on a complex, multi-layered approach to its air defences, with Typhoon fighter jets and Type-45 destroyers, armed with Aster missiles, tasked with providing the main anti-missile firepower.

The military can monitor ballistic missiles launched from Russia at the RAF radar base at Fylingdales, North Yorkshire.

Munitions launched from the Middle East are more likely to be tracked from radars, accessed by Nato, in Turkey, Qatar and Israel.

It is likely any missiles launched in the direction of the UK will be intercepted by systems based across Nato allies long before they reach British shores.

But in the event projectiles do slip through, Typhoons can be scrambled to tackle the incoming munition – as they did before Iranian-launched drones reached Israel.