A multinational mine countermeasures force led by the Royal Navy has reached the Middle East. RFA Lyme Bay and German warships, escorted by HMS Dragon, have passed safely through the Red Sea, though any clearance operation remains tied to political conditions.
On completion of exercises off Cyprus, RFA Lyme Bay, now configured as an Afloat Forward Support Base for mine countermeasures, transited the Suez Canal on 19th June and then passed south through the Red Sea. She carries more than 270 people, a mix of RFA sailors and over 100 RN mine warfare, diving and explosive ordnance disposal specialists, medics, Royal Marines, British Army personnel and French sailors.
Embarked is a toolkit of autonomous, crewless and remotely operated minehunting and disposal systems, including USVs RNMB, Ariadne, RNMB Halcyon and French USV, Sirius. Commander Gemma Britton, Commander of the United Kingdom Mine Countermeasures Force, is leading the UK effort. The RN ships are likely to use Duqm, Oman, as their base for now. The RN’s main Middle East base in Bahrain remains vulnerable to Iranian drone strikes and would require a high-risk passage through the Straits of Hormuz just to get there.
Although there have been no Houthi attacks on shipping for nearly a year, the threat remains and HMS Dragon provided close escort. The Type 45 was sent east to the Mediterranean in March, amid huge controversy over the RN’s inability to deploy a vessel quickly. Initially, she was sent to reinforce air defence over Cyprus after the island was struck during the opening days of the conflict. She subsequently transited the canal on 9th May and has since operated in the Arabian Sea alongside the French carrier strike group led by FS Charles de Gaulle.
Germany has sent two vessels to the region, the Elbe-class support ship FGS Mosel and the Frankenthal-class minehunter FGS Fulda. The German ships joined Lyme Bay and Dragon and were escorted as far as the Gulf of Aden, detached from the task group on 23 June to head for Djibouti for resupply and further preparation. They currently operate under the European Union mission Operation ASPIDES, which has the sole aim of defending merchant shipping against Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.
Berlin has been very cautious about involvement. Defence Minister Boris Pistorius has described the deployment as a precautionary measure, stressing that any German role in clearing the Strait would require a fresh mandate from the Bundestag. A vote is expected before the German parliament breaks for summer recess on 10 July. Pistorius has set further preconditions, including a durable end to hostilities, an international legal mandate and what he terms a permissive environment, specifically the consent of both Iran and Oman.
The UK and France have led planning since the spring, when Starmer and Macron committed to a multinational mission, and estimates suggest around 450 merchant vessels remain bottled up in the Gulf following the conflict that began in late February. A ceasefire between the United States and Iran has opened the door, but its durability still rests on continuing talks between Washington and Tehran. At the time of writing, the Strait remains shut to the majority of shipping and agreements to permit minehunting appear to be some way off. The hardware has arrived well ahead of the politics. Whether this force ever clears a single mine has to be decided in parliaments and negotiating rooms first.
HMS Dragon’s deployment to the Middle East is likely to last at least 6 months and justifies the time spent on preparing the ship and training when the RN was under extreme pressure to get the ship to Cyprus as soon as possible back in March.