Defence sources say deployment of HMS Duncan to better protect base on Mediterranean island is under discussion

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John Healey, the defence secretary, is considering sending a Royal Navy destroyer to Cyprus to help defend British bases there after several apparently hostile drones targeted RAF Akrotiri on the island.

Defence sources said a deployment of HMS Duncan, currently in Portsmouth, was under discussion as a way to better protect the base in Cyprus – though another said it was possible one of two other destroyers might be sent as an alternative.