RAF Top Gun downs Iranian drone after Typhoons scrambled from Qatar as Tehran ‘fires ballistic missiles at US warship’
THE RAF has scrambled Typhoons to down an Iranian drone after a US warship came under attack from Iranian ballistic missiles.
It comes after Iran raised its so-called “red flag of revenge” after vowing to blitz the US and Israel with a “force never experienced before”.
A RAF Top Gun shot an Iranian drone from the sky on Sunday marking the first air-to-air combat for British forces since the US-Israeli attacks on Iran.
An RAF Typhoon was scrambled from the Al Udeid airbase in Qatar, downing the one-way attack drone with an air-to-air missile.
The jet belonged to a joint UK and Qatari unit, RAF’s 12 Squadron.
It comes hours after a counter-drone team in northern Iraq downed an Iranian drone using electronic warfare weapons.
RAF Typhoons routinely carry Advance Short Range Air Missiles (ASRAAM) which have a range of up to 25km.
While medium range version have a range of up to 75km and the new meteor missiles a staggering 200km.
Iran’s revolutionary guards this afternoon said they had targeted Donald Trump’s USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier with four ballistic missiles.
But the US military has confirmed the rockets failed to hit the carrier and “didn’t even come close”.
The USS Lincoln is one of two aircraft carriers deployed to the region in recent weeks, and the only one relatively close to Iranian shores.
Meanwhile, hundreds of British troops have been involved in near misses in Bahrain and Iraq, The Sun understands.
Earlier, troops in Bahrain were just 200 yards from an Iranian missile and drone strike on a US Naval base.
Footage on social media appeared to show US Patriot missiles failing to stop Iranian strikes on the port.
British troops in Iraq were just 400 metres from an airstrike that made it through allied defences.
It comes as…
- Ayatollah Ali Khamenei confirmed dead
- Dubai rocked by another Iran blitz
- One dead & seven injured in Abu Dhabi
- Huge explosion hits Tehran
- Trump vows ‘never seen before force’ to end regime
- Iran ‘fires missiles towards Brit bases in Cyprus’
- Moment Iran TV anchor sobs over Khamenei’s death
All British troops are “safe and accounted for” defence insiders claimed – but they refused to say if any had been wounded.
Iran launched more than 25 waves of missiles and drones at targets across the Middle East, including two missiles which flew toward Cyprus where thousands of British troops are based.
RAF F-35B Lightning jets scrambled from RAF Akrotiri and RAF Typhoons launched from the Al Udeid air base in Qatar as America and Israel unleashed hell on Iran.
Separately a UK counter-drone unit took out an Iranian drone that was heading towards a coalition base housing UK service personnel.
It is unclear which country they were based in. Coalition bases normally refers to camps in Iraq, Kurdistan and Syria.
Insiders said chiefs were considering “withdrawing and dispersing” forces to reduce the risk to kit and personnel.
Iran’s main targets were Israel, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Kuwait, and Iraq, sources region.
Defence Secretary John Healey said: “Few people will mourn the Ayatollah’s death, not least the family and friends of those thousands of young protesters murdered on the streets of Iranian cities.”
“Iran and the regime he’s led for so long, is a source of evil, murdering its own citizens, and sponsoring and exporting terror, including to countries like Britain.”
“This regime is lashing out. It’s lashing out in an increasingly indiscriminate and widespread way, and people will be really concerned that it’s not just military targets, but civilian airports like Kuwait
He added: “Hotels in Dubai and Bahrain are being hit. And so that’s why we’ve strengthened the UK defences in the region. We are active in regional defence operations.”
US President Donald Trump confirmed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 86, suffered an inglorious death as he was wiped out during the massive blitz on Iran on Saturday.
The IDF killed Iran’s supreme leader and senior officials “in just half a minute in the opening strike”, Israel‘s Channel 12 news reported.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has launched counter attacks in response as part of the “most-intense offensive operation” ever.
The IRGC said they had attacked nearly 30 US military bases across the Middle East on Sunday morning.
Trump has hit back, vowing to strike Iran with “force never seen before”.
An enormous explosion has rocked Iran’s capital after the Israeli military announced a “broad range of strikes” in “the heart of Tehran”.
