Britain is defenceless against a potential Iranian missile attack, former military chiefs have said.
On Saturday, Israel warned that Tehran had developed intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of hitting London.
It followed an attempted strike against the joint British-US Diego Garcia military base on the Chagos Islands – 2,400 miles from Iran. One missile was intercepted by a US warship, and the second failed in flight.
It was the first confirmed use of long-range ballistic missiles by Iran.
One senior defence source with knowledge of the UK’s integrated air defence systems warned that Britain would struggle to fend off such a long-range bombardment.
They told The Telegraph: “It’s woeful… combating ballistic missiles are long-learned skill sets – and the UK’s set of those skills is, sadly, very, very low.”
Sean Bell, a former air vice-marshal, said Britain had Bloodhound missiles to stop such attacks during the Cold War, but its defences had waned since then because of a lack of investment.
“The worry here is that if Iran was to launch a ballistic missile that was heading our way, unlike Israel, unlike America, unlike Diego Garcia, we have no defences against that in this country,” he told the BBC on Saturday evening.
“Whilst we could track it, it would be able to strike us. Now, I think the chances of that happening are fairly slim.”
The UK’s only line of defence against ballistic missile bombardment comes from the Royal Navy’s fleet of six Type 45 destroyers.
The warships are equipped with the supersonic Sea Viper surface-to-air missile, with a top speed of Mach 4.5. The Aster 30 variant has a range of about 75 miles, with each destroyer capable of carrying up to 48 missiles.
However, much of the Type 45 fleet is in port and unloaded, meaning it would be ineffective against an immediate missile strike.
One, HMS Dragon, is loaded but has been sent to the eastern Mediterranean to protect RAF Akrotiri, a British air base on Cyprus which was attacked by a kamikaze drone earlier this month.
Mr Bell said: “Unless a Type 45 happened to be sailing by, and it is unlikely to be in the right place at the time, the fact remains we have no missile defence against ballistic missiles in this country.”
The UK has no ground-based air defence system capable of intercepting ballistic or hypersonic missiles. The Army’s seven batteries of Sky Sabre missile systems are built primarily to intercept fast jets, attack helicopters and laser-guided missiles.
RAF Fylingdales, a radar station in North York Moors, provides early warning and tracking and forms a crucial part of Nato’s defensive shield. However, it cannot intercept incoming threats.
Ultimately, Britain would be reliant on Nato allies in Europe to protect it from ballistic strikes by Tehran.
America has a number of Aegis Ashore missile defence systems deployed across Romania and Poland. Four Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, based in Spain, also operate SM-3 interceptors, which could destroy ballistic munitions.
Other countries, such as Germany, operate the US-made Patriot missile systems which could also intercept ballistic missiles, while Turkey is equipped with the THAAD system, which could do a similar job.