Arab War Grows More Dire as Britain Deploys Fighter Jets to the Middle East
London — The UK has dispatched four additional Typhoon fighter jets to Qatar in response to the widening conflict in the Middle East, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced on Thursday local time as his defence secretary visited Cyprus. The four Typhoon aircraft will join the existing British squadron in the Gulf to bolster our defensive operations in Qatar and across the region, Starmer told reporters, via AFP, on Friday (6 March 2026).
The announcement also came after Defence Secretary John Healey arrived in Cyprus following a drone attack on the Royal Air Force base on the Mediterranean island earlier in the week. An Iranian-made drone attacked hangars at the RAF base at Akrotiri on Monday. Two other drones were detected on that day; Britain shot them down as a preventive measure.
“As the situation in any conflict changes, you must be prepared to adjust the actions you take,” he told Sky News, strengthening Britain’s air defences and security in tandem with its allies. “Iranian attacks are becoming more indiscriminate,”
Prior to this, the Labour government had faced criticism from Cypriot authorities over its response to the attack. On Wednesday Kyriacos Kouros, Cyprus’ High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, said Cypriots were “disappointed” with the level of information shared with the public on Newsnight, BBC.
Meanwhile, Starmer said at a press conference on Thursday that two Wildcat helicopters, armed with Martlet missiles capable of downing drones, would arrive in Cyprus on Friday. He had announced their deployment on Tuesday, adding that he was also sending anti-drone capable helicopters as part of Britain’s defence operation in the region.
Starmer has also deployed HMS Dragon, the Type 45 air-defence destroyer capable of launching eight missiles in under 10 seconds and guiding up to 16 missiles simultaneously. However, officials say the vessel will not sail until next week.
Starmer initially declined to engage in the US–Israel war with Iran, but subsequently agreed to the US request to use two British military bases for “specific and limited defensive purposes”. The bases are located in Gloucestershire in western England and the UK–US Diego Garcia base in the Indian Ocean. Starmer insisted that the Akrotiri base would not be used by US bombers.
The Monday drone attack there caused minimal damage and no casualties, according to British officials. The families of service personnel have been relocated from the base as a precaution.