“As circumstances in any conflict change, you’ve got to be willing to adapt the action you take,” Healey told Sky News from the Akrotiri base, adding that Iranian strikes were “increasingly indiscriminate”.
Healey earlier posted on X alongside a photograph of himself meeting Cypriot Defence Minister Vasilis Palmas.
The pair discussed how “the UK is further reinforcing our air defences to support our shared security”.
Britain’s Labour Government has faced criticism from the Cypriot authorities related to its response to the attacks.
On Wednesday, Cyprus’ High Commissioner to the UK, Kyriacos Kouros, said Cypriots were “disappointed” at the level of information-sharing with residents.
“Let’s say the people are disappointed, the people are scared, the people could expect more,” he told the BBC’s Newsnight programme.
Starmer told a news conference on Thursday that two Wildcat helicopters armed with Martlet missiles that can take down drones will arrive in Cyprus on Friday.
He had announced their deployment on Tuesday, adding that he was also dispatching “helicopters with counter drone capabilities” as part of Britain’s “defensive operations” in the region.
Starmer has also deployed HMS Dragon, a Type 45 air defence destroyer able to launch eight missiles in under 10 seconds and guide up to 16 missiles simultaneously.
It is not due to set sail until next week, however, according to officials.
‘Limited defensive purposes’
Starmer has faced criticism from the opposition Conservative Party that he has been too slow to deploy resources to the region.
He insisted that throughout January and February, the Government has moved fighter jets, air defence missiles and advanced radar systems to the region.
UK Typhoon and F-35B jets have been operating in the Middle East since the war began on Saturday with US-Israeli strikes on Iran.
Starmer initially refused to have any role in the US-Israeli war with Iran but later agreed to a US request to use two British military bases for a “specific and limited defensive purpose”.
Those bases are in Gloucestershire, western England, and the UK-US Diego Garcia base in the Indian Ocean.
Starmer has insisted that the Akrotiri base is not being used by US bombers.
Monday’s drone strike there caused minimal damage and no casualties, British officials said.
Service personnel’s families have been moved away from the base as a precaution.
- Agence France-Presse
