The UK needs an air defense system that will be analogous to Israel’s Iron Dome. Chief of the Defense Staff of the British Armed Forces, Admiral Tony Radakin, stated this in an interview with LBC radio station.
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“This will be necessary in the future, there are discussions about this,” Radakin said, answering a question about whether the United Kingdom needs its own Iron Dome.
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With the caveat that the UK does not face the same threats as Israel and is also a member of NATO and is therefore in a “very different position”, Radakin added that the situation will change in the future.
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“If you look at the threats that already exist, [there are] much longer-range missiles, kamikaze drones with a much longer range, much simpler delivery methods,” Radakin said. “So we have various initiatives, both for ourselves and and with our European allies to better defend ourselves in the future, recognizing that these threats are likely to increase.”
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Earlier, several other former and current British politicians and military leaders made statements about the need to create a British version of the Iron Dome. Among them are former Deputy Minister of Defense of the Kingdom James Hippie and leader of the House of Commons of the British Parliament Penny Mordaunt.
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The British military has already tried to get the Cabinet to allocate £10 billion ($12.5 billion at the current exchange rate) to create an integrated missile and air defense system to protect the territory of the kingdom. It was decided to postpone consideration of such a project until at least 2025 due to lack of funds.
