𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

The Royal Navy is a house of cards so delicately balanced that even a minor issue can expose the Senior Service’s vulnerabilities. HMS Dragon, the Navy’s only warship protecting UK bases in Cyprus from Iranian attacks, has had to dock in port for maintenance after suffering technical issues with her water systems.

After weeks of controversy surrounding the Type 45 destroyer’s delayed deployment to the Eastern Mediterranean and ridicule over the state of the Navy from Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth, this was the last thing UK defence needed. One saving grace is the US President has (so far) been too preoccupied with the Iran ceasefire to twist the knife. Although, it is hard not to imagine him making his views heard.

And if Mr Trump does, it’s likely he will feel vindicated by his swipes.

Britain’s status as a major defence player is being rapidly undermined.

Labour pushes the blame to its predecessors — sure, the Conservatives have a major role to play in the decline of our military — but Sir Keir Starmer is doing very little to stop the rot.

The Defence Investment Plan, setting out details on new equipment orders and capabilities, is still nowhere to be seen after months of delays, putting our defence industry in “paralysis” and pushing manufacturers to look overseas.

While a bill to put Britain’s critical infrastructure and industries on a war footing has also reportedly been pushed back.

It’s little wonder, as exclusively revealed by the Express, that NATO officials are growing increasingly concerned about the state of the UK Armed Forces.

One source said Britain is viewed as having some “first-class” kit but not enough to back it up, pointing towards the Navy’s Type 45s as a prime example.

The compact fleet is among the world’s most advanced warships, but the vessels have been dogged by availability issues for some time.

The problem with HMS Dragon’s onboard water systems is believed to be a new issue for the Daring-class, one defence source said.

They said while it’s important to note that things break on warships and repairs to complex equipment happen on a regular basis, the docking of HMS Dragon points to a wider defence issue.

They said: “Under normal circumstances of course we would have had sufficient hulls to deploy more than one single asset to the region — and thus maintain a continuous watch. I think the key point here is this is just another sign of the perils of being ‘one brick thick’.

“We have been exposed to have been walking softly with no stick at all,” they added.

The UK initially had plans to procure 12 Type 45 destroyers — however, this was halved under Labour in 2008.

This has been a sticking point for many commentators, while the Tories’ failure to reverse this continues to be questioned.

David Cameron’s premiership is viewed by many as the era in which defence’s decline was accelerated.

The Type 45s are Britain’s only assets capable of shooting down ballistic or hypersonic missiles and the Ministry of Defence has looked to downplay HMS Dragon’s port call in the Eastern Med.

A spokesperson insisted the warship will be able to set sail at short notice “if required”, adding her docking is a “a routine logistics stop and a short maintenance period”.

It is understood the ship’s operational capability was not affected by the issues and that crew still had access to water and catering, yet this is undoubtedly another PR hammerblow.

HMS Dragon has only been in the region for around two weeks, arriving three weeks after RAF Akrotiri on Cyprus was hit by a drone — to the frustration of many.

The whole issue has encapsulated what many have been warning about for years and the reality of hollowing out our forces is in front of our very eyes.

Labour has no choice but to stop the rot. Failure to do so could be catastrophic.