Shortage of Royal Navy warships could imply Britain’s plane provider will want a French escort to the Middle East

Britain’s aircraft carrier could require a French escort to the Middle East if there are not enough Royal Navy ships to do the job.

HMS Prince of Wales has been upgraded to advanced readiness, as criticism mounts over Britain’s military response to the conflict with Iran.

This means the crew of the £3billion ship, currently undergoing repairs in Portsmouth, must be ready to sail with five days’ notice.

Crew members have reportedly been alerted to a potential mission, but with most of the Royal Navy’s warships unavailable or broken, allies such as France, the US and other European nation may be called upon to take their place.

An aircraft carrier usually needs to be accompanied by two or three warships, either destroyers or frigates, and an attack submarine – although it’s understood no decision has been taken over whether to deploy the carrier, or whether it would be escorted.

The Royal Navy has six destroyers in total, but only one, HMS Dragon, is thought to be action-ready.

HMS Dragon in any case is due to set off imminently for the Mediterranean to protect the British sovereign base areas in Cyprus.

And of the fleet’s seven frigates, only HMS Somerset and HMS St Albans are understood to be available, with the rest needing maintenance or problems to be fixed.

James Cartlidge, the shadow defence secretary, told The Telegraph: ‘Labour’s talk of putting a carrier on greater readiness is a distraction from the real question: why didn’t Starmer plan properly and move naval assets weeks ago, when a major US operation was clearly coming?

‘The truth is Labour have prioritised welfare over defence, leaving an under-funded Ministry of Defence forced to make £2.6bn in cuts this year.

‘That’s why there are no Royal Navy warships in the Middle East and why even if a carrier were deployed, there would be serious questions about escort ships.’

Addressing the speculation over calling upon our allies’ navies, a Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: ‘This is not true. No decisions to change the deployment of HMS Prince of Wales have been taken.

‘HMS Prince of Wales has always been on very high readiness and we are increasing the preparedness of the carrier, reducing the time it would take to set sail for any deployment.

‘We have been ramping up our military presence in the Middle East since January, including with Typhoons, F-35 jets, air defence systems and an extra 400 personnel into Cyprus.’

The ministry previously said: ‘We have been bolstering our UK military presence in the Middle East since January, and we have already deployed capabilities to protect British people and our allies in the region, including Typhoons, F-35 jets, air defence systems and an extra 400 personnel into Cyprus.

‘Since the strikes began, we’ve had British jets in the sky shooting down drones and have sent additional assets to the region to further reinforce our air defences, including more Typhoons and Wildcat helicopters with drone busting missiles.

‘HMS Prince of Wales has always been on very high readiness and we are increasing the preparedness of the carrier, reducing the time it would take to set sail for any deployment.’

Meanwhile the head of Britain’s armed forces has rejected claims the military was ill-prepared for the escalating crisis.

Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton, the Chief of the Defence Staff, said Britain now faces ‘probably the most dangerous period’ in decades. 

‘What the Prime Minister and the Defence Secretary have made clear, and what is very clear to me, is that this is probably the most dangerous period in the last 30-odd years that I’ve been in uniform,’ he said.

‘The demands on defence are rising.’

He said HMS Dragon, which started preparing for action after a drone hit the British military base in Cyprus, was in maintenance until this week.

He also dismissed that cuts to the military over the years have slowed down the UK’s response, and signaled that the UK could join more proactive strikes in future after Sir Keir Starmer granted permission for ‘defensive’ US action against Iranian missile sites from UK bases.

Sir Richard said ‘I completely reject that criticism,’ when asked about comments that the UK military was caught off-guard when Israel and the US launched strikes over a week ago.

‘When the war started on Saturday, it became clear over the next 48 hours that Iran’s response was going to be far broader and more reckless compared to what we saw in the 12-day war last summer,’ Sir Richard said.

‘We also assessed that a drone had been launched from Lebanon by an Iranian-aligned group targeting Cyprus.

‘So, on Sunday and Monday, we assessed our options and looked at what the risks were in response to that much broader and reckless action by Iran.’

Asked if that was a bit late, he said: ‘I completely disagree’, adding that ‘our posture had been built up over several weeks’.

Britain has taken particular flack over its response to the attack on the Cyprus military base. 

Air defence destroyer HMS Dragon is not expected to sail to the eastern Mediterranean until next week while France and Greece have already deployed military assets to defend the island.

‘HMS Dragon was in maintenance until this week.

‘I’m enormously proud of the work of the Royal Navy – they’ve been working night and day to get that ship ready, get the ammunition on board, get the stores on board, and bring it out of its maintenance state so it’s ready to go within the next few days,’ Sir Richard said.

He said HMS Dragon would depart in the next few days and then it would take ‘a number of days’ to transit through the Atlantic, through the Strait of Gibraltar, and across the Mediterranean.

Sir Richard said the delay was ‘not at all’ down to cuts to the military over the years, saying HMS Dragon was in ‘routine maintenance’.

Military planners have been working to prepare for such a crisis ‘over many years’, he said.

Sir Richard added: ‘We saw overnight the first US bombers arrive at RAF Gloucester, and I would expect missions to be launched from there within the next few days.’