Britain is in talks to join Europe’s new air defense system, Grant Shapps has confirmed.
The UK is working with EU allies “on what Sky Shield may seem like it,” said the Secretary of Defense.
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He also flagged a boom in shipbuilding to increase the size of the Royal Navy in The Sun’s new World At War program.
The Sky Shield plan could see missiles such as US Patriots, Israeli Arrow-3s and German IRIS-Ts deployed to UK soil to protect against hostile projectiles, including drones.
Shapps rejected calls from MPs including Penny Mordaunt to buy Israeli Iron Dome defense technology and said Europe Sky Shield negotiations were “in the early stages”.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz proposed the initiative to boost European air defense after Vladimir Putin launched missiles at Ukrainian infrastructure in 2022.
Around 21 nations are currently involved, including neutral countries Switzerland.
The Sky Shield plan aims to reduce costs for countries by coordinating their access to air and defense systems, such as the US-made Patriot missile system.
Asked how he plans to spend the additional £75 billion promised for the defense budget between now and 2030, Shapps said: “I will say more soon as shipbuilding tsar.”
And on whether the UK Armed Forces are currently big enough, he said: “We have already received the peace dividend too often and were potentially moving from a post-war world to a pre-war world.
“I think we need to do more.”
Last week, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak revealed his plan to increase defense spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2030.
Sunak hailed it as the “biggest strengthening of national defense in a generation” to combat a growing axis of evil between Russia, Iran, China and North Korea.
What is Israel’s Iron Dome and how does it work?
ISRAEL’s air defense system is one of the best in the world, having successfully intercepted thousands of rockets.
The all-weather mobile Iron Dome is at the forefront of this and was instrumental in defending against Iran’s recent missile and drone attack.
Here are the details of the high-tech system.
What is Israel’s Iron Dome?
Iron Dome is a short-range counter-rocket, artillery and mortar (C-RAM) air defense system.
It was designed to intercept and destroy short-range rockets and artillery shells fired from ranges of 2 to 43 miles away.
It intercepts rockets traveling towards urban areas and shoots them down – the first system of its kind in the world.
Israel hopes to increase the dome’s intercept range to 250 km and make it capable of stopping rockets coming from two directions.
Developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries, it can be operated in all weather conditions, including fog, dust storm, low clouds and rain.
From 2011 to 2021, the United States contributed a total of $1.6 billion to the Iron Dome defense system, before another $1 billion was approved by the US Congress in 2022.
How it works?
The dome is made up of missile batteries that are shaped like giant matchboxes and are tilted toward Gaza.
The Iron Dome monitor detects a target using radar and monitors its trajectory.
A control center then calculates an interception point and then commands a rocket launch if the foreign missile is headed toward an urban area.
Once in contact with the missile, the rocket explodes and knocks it down.
Each launcher contains 20 Tamir missiles with proximity warheads and there are several batteries positioned throughout the country.
Since they were implemented in 2011, the computer systems have been updated, improved and upgraded to improve the accuracy of the rockets.
“As our adversaries fall into line, we must do more to defend our country,” the Prime Minister said, adding that it marked a “turning point for European security and a landmark moment in the UK’s defence”.
Negotiations over a “Sky Shield” over Europe emerged after French President Emmanuel Macron suggested forging a nuclear protection bubble from Russia.
Macron said 300 submarine-launched ballistic missiles should be placed across the continent to reinforce collective defense.
His comments followed a German minister urging Britain and France to create a “nuclear shield” to deter Russia.
Macron said NATO does not offer Europe protection against Russian nuclear weapons at a time when threats are coming from Putin and his cronies in large numbers and quickly.
The French president said he wanted to start talks on “missile defense, long-range weapons and nuclear weapons” across Europe.
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
