UK to Upgrade Warship Defense Missile System Used in Red Sea

 Britain's Secretary of State for Defense Grant Shapps arrives for a meeting with Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides at the Presidential Palace in Nicosia, Cyprus January 19, 2024. (Andreas Loucaides/PIO/Handout via Reuters)
Britain's Secretary of State for Defense Grant Shapps arrives for a meeting with Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides at the Presidential Palace in Nicosia, Cyprus January 19, 2024. (Andreas Loucaides/PIO/Handout via Reuters)
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UK to Upgrade Warship Defense Missile System Used in Red Sea

 Britain's Secretary of State for Defense Grant Shapps arrives for a meeting with Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides at the Presidential Palace in Nicosia, Cyprus January 19, 2024. (Andreas Loucaides/PIO/Handout via Reuters)
Britain's Secretary of State for Defense Grant Shapps arrives for a meeting with Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides at the Presidential Palace in Nicosia, Cyprus January 19, 2024. (Andreas Loucaides/PIO/Handout via Reuters)

Britain's Ministry of Defense said on Sunday it would spend 405 million pounds ($514 million) to upgrade a missile system now being used by the Royal Navy to shoot down hostile drones over the Red Sea.

The Sea Viper Air Defense system will be upgraded with missiles featuring a new warhead and software enabling it to counter ballistic missile threats, the MoD said in a statement.

The contracts were awarded to the British division of MBDA, a missiles joint venture owned by Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo, the MoD said.

"As the situation in the Middle East worsens, it is vital that we adapt to keep the UK, our allies and partners safe," defense minister Grant Shapps said in the statement.

"Sea Viper has been at the forefront of this, being the Navy's weapon of choice in the first shooting down of an aerial threat in more than 30 years."

US and British naval forces in the Red Sea have shot drones and missiles fired by Yemen's Houthi militias this month as the conflict between Israel and Hamas spilled out into the broader region.



Netanyahu Says ‘We Can Finish the Job’ against Iran after Meeting Rubio

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands during a press conference at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, February 16, 2025. (Reuters)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands during a press conference at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, February 16, 2025. (Reuters)
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Netanyahu Says ‘We Can Finish the Job’ against Iran after Meeting Rubio

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands during a press conference at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, February 16, 2025. (Reuters)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands during a press conference at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, February 16, 2025. (Reuters)

Israel and the United States are determined to thwart Iran's nuclear ambitions and its "aggression" in the Middle East, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday after meeting US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Speaking after meeting Rubio in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said they had held a "very productive discussion" on a number of issues, "none more important than Iran".

"Israel and America stand shoulder to shoulder in countering the threat of Iran," he said. "We agreed that the mullahs must not have nuclear weapons and also agreed that Iran's aggression in the region must be rolled back."

Rubio said: "Behind every terrorist group, behind every act of violence, behind every destabilizing activity, behind everything that threatens peace and stability for the millions of people that call this region home is Iran."

Israeli-Iranian enmity stretches back decades through a history of clandestine wars and attacks by land, sea, air and cyberspace.

Iran, which says it is enriching uranium for peaceful purposes, has also backed armed groups across the Middle East that describe themselves as the "Axis of Resistance" to Israel and US influence in the region.

The Axis includes not only Hamas, the Palestinian group that ignited the Gaza war by attacking Israel in October 2023, but also the Hezbollah movement in Lebanon, the Houthi militias in Yemen, various Shiite armed groups in Iraq and Syria.

Over the 16 months since the Gaza war erupted, Israel has assassinated top leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah and Israel and Iran have exchanged limited retaliatory attacks.

Netanyahu said Israel had dealt a "mighty blow" to Iran since the start of the war in Gaza and said that with the support of US President Donald Trump "I have no doubt we can and will finish the job".

Thanking Rubio for "unequivocal backing" for Israel's policy in Gaza, Netanyahu said Israel and the United States under Trump shared a common strategy in the Palestinian enclave, where a fragile ceasefire is in effect.

"I want to assure everyone who's now listening to us, President Trump and I are working in full cooperation and coordination between us," he said.