UK Deploying Air Defence Systems To Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia: PM Starmer

Last Updated:March 23, 2026, 22:48 IST

Keir Starmer and John Healey deploy UK air defence to Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Cyprus and support US strikes from Diego Garcia and Fairford against Iranian missile threats.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday said Britain is deploying short-range air defence systems to the Gulf to assist in countering Iranian missile attacks.

“We’re deploying short range air defence systems to Bahrain at speed," AFP quoted Starmer informing a parliamentary committee, adding the UK was “doing the same with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia".

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He further said that the country is working with industry to “distribute air defence missiles to Gulf partners", which have been attacked by numerous Iranian missiles in retaliation for US-Israeli strikes.

He added that airspace specialists have also been appointed there.

Defence minister John Healey told the parliament that Rapid Sentry anti-drone system will be deployed in Kuwait.

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AFP quoted him calling this a “battle-tested ground-based air defence missile system that has already proved highly effective for UK forces taking down drones in the region".

He further said that a British warship, HMS Dragon, had also reached the eastern Mediterranean to defend Cyprus.

This came following criticism, especially by US President Donald Trump, over a perceived slow response to a drone attack on Britain’s Akrotiri base in southern Cyprus.

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Healey said the UK now has more military jets in the region “than at any time in the last 15 years" and has boosted air defence personnel in Cyprus by 500.

He added that British pilots have so far spent nearly 900 hours flying in the region “in defence of Cyprus, Jordan, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates".

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Meanwhile, the UK government has allowed the US to use its bases in Diego Garcia in the Chagos Islands and Fairford in southwest England to fly US bombing missions targeting Iranian “missile sites and capabilities being used to attack ships in the Strait of Hormuz".

Britain is determined to play a “leading role in securing the strait so commercial ships can move freely and confidently again", AFP quoted the defence minister saying.

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