The Royal Navy’s mission to intercept Iranian drone threats has stalled in port because the Portsmouth repair yard now operates on a “nine-to-five” schedule.
The high-stakes mission to protect a British airbase from Iranian drone strikes remains on hold while maintenance crews finish welding and system overhauls during standard business hours, according to union officials, The Telegraph reported. The deployment of HMS Dragon, a Type 45 air-defense destroyer designed to intercept high-speed missile and drone threats, to Cyprus has been delayed because the Ministry of Defence and private contractor Serco reportedly introduced these restricted shifts as a “cost-cutting” measure that sacrifices military readiness for budget targets.
Prospect General Secretary Mike Clancy slammed the current contract, saying that national security shouldn’t rely on the “goodwill” of staff volunteering for overtime. The union, which represents the engineers and tugboat workers tasked with prepping the fleet, claims the new labor agreement effectively ended 24/7 staffing at the historic Portsmouth base.
“Our members are stepping up to help, but such a vital service shouldn’t be dependent on goodwill from staff. Out-of-hours support should be locked into the contract,” Clancy said, The Telegraph reported. “This contract has failed its first real encounter with a serious crisis and must be urgently reviewed and rectified.”
Defense Minister Al Carns admitted the warship will not depart until engineers complete “a variety of different bits of maintenance” required for its new mission in the Mediterranean. Carns told reporters the ship was originally suited for a different mission and required a total re-mission of its weapons systems to defend against aerial threats.
As the HMS Dragon sits in dry dock, the U.K. finds itself lagging behind international allies who have already moved assets into the region. Military analysts point out that the air-defense destroyer is now expected to arrive in Cyprus a full two weeks after French and Spanish warships have already reached the theater of operations.
Serco Marine Services, the private firm managing the port services, disputed the union’s claims by saying that its core working day runs from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
“HMS Dragon is being prepared to sail, with the full support of our dedicated teams in Portsmouth. Serco has fulfilled every task requested by the Royal Navy on time and to the agreed standard,” a spokesperson told The Telegraph. “Any suggestion that the working patterns of Serco employees have impacted HMS Dragon’s ability to sail is completely untrue.”
However, union sources insist the reality on the ground is far more rigid, claiming “some specific tasks in the contract are 9-5 on weekdays.” The sources told The Telegraph that the new £1 billion (approx. $1.34 billion) contract reduced essential cover and forced the Navy to rely on staff volunteering for weekends to get the ship combat ready.
President Donald Trump said Saturday that the United States had launched Operation Epic Fury alongside Israel’s Operation Lion’s Roar, initiating a massive air campaign that targeted Iranian nuclear facilities and military infrastructure. The attack prompted Tehran to retaliate by attacking targets across at least nine countries, including those in the Gulf and Mediterranean.
(Featured Image Media Credit: Flickr/szczepan.lemanczyk)
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