Britain sends new destroyer to the Gulf

Now the British have reacted to Iran’s threat to block the Strait of Hormuz. UK Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said in a television interview last week that he wanted to send a ‘very clear message to Iran’ that the UK would not allow the Strait to be closed. He said: ‘We are an integrated part of the naval taskforce in the Gulf and one of the missions of that taskforce is to ensure that those shipping lanes remain open."


The Royal Navy’s newest and most advanced destroyer HMS Daring will join the British presence in the Gulf next week. At a cost of one billion pounds, it has the world’s most sophisticated naval radar able to track incoming missiles and fighter jets. HMS Daring is the first of six new destroyers and will have a crew of 180.



The US and Israel are getting ready for major missile defence exercises in the area in the next few weeks.