Baroness Goldie
Main Page: Baroness Goldie (Conservative - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Baroness Goldie's debates with the Ministry of Defence
UK Armed Forces in Middle East
Baroness Goldie Excerpts(2 weeks, 5 days ago)
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The Earl of Minto (Con)
My Lords, I could not pay greater tribute to our forces out there, whether on “Diamond”, “Lancaster” or “Cardigan Bay”. They are all providing absolutely critical support to an extremely important initiative.
Baroness Goldie (Con)
My Lords, we should applaud the role of the RAF, with the recent contribution it made in the interception of Iranian drones launched against Israel. I ask my noble friend the Minister: was that under Operation Shader? If so, is the role of Shader now being expanded?
The Earl of Minto (Con)
I thank my noble friend for that question. It was indeed under Operation Shader, which has been in place since 2014. In fact, I answered a question about this the other day. The RAF has flown nearly 9,000 missions under Operation Shader and released more than 4,000 precision weapons, which gives noble Lords an idea of the scale and importance of ensuring that Daesh in Iraq and Syria is ultimately destroyed. There is no intention to increase the scope of that operation, but back in April it was the appropriate asset to use for that particular sortie.