'Iron Dome' costing £10 billion could protect London from missile attacks, says ex-RAF chief

An ‘Iron Dome’ built with £10 billion funding could stop London being hit by some missile attacks, says a former RAF chief.

But Air Marshall Greg Bagwell, ex-Deputy Commander, RAF Air Command, said an Israel-style defensive shield on that scale would not be big enough to safeguard the whole of the UK.

Air Marshal Greg Bagwell was the RAF’s Deputy Commander Operations from 2013 until 2016 (Chris Ison/PA)

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“You might be able to protect certain key sites, certain strategic areas, London would be an example, but of course that's not enough,” ex-RAF chief Mr Bagwell told Time Radio.

“If you've got military bases all around the country, you've got power stations, you've got critical infrastructure dotted around the country, then you're really going to have to try and cover the entire area, which is challenging.”

He stressed that an “Iron Dome” could stop short-range missiles.

But he explained that the US plans for such a shield could cost between $200 billion (£151 billion) to $1 trillion dollars (£757 billion).

“We certainly need proper air defences,” he said.

“The Gulf countries have developed systems quite like that.”

Rockets fired from southern Lebanon are intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome air defence system over the Upper Galilee region in northern Israel, on April 11, 2026

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Under the Conservative proposal, the so-called ‘Britannia Shield’ would use a network of radar and command-and-control systems to detect incoming attacks, alongside interceptor missiles and counter-drone capabilities.

Announcing the pledge on the third day of the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham, Kemi Badenoch accused Labour of failing to keep the country safe.

The Conservatives said the proposed system would be designed to protect the UK, its sovereign territories and British military bases overseas.

The Tory leader said: “The world will not wait for Britain to get ready. War has returned to Europe. Missiles and drones are transforming warfare in the Middle East.

“Cheap weapons can now threaten cities, military bases and critical infrastructure in ways that would have sounded like science fiction a generation ago.”

She added: “The threat is here. Britain must be ready. And Britannia Shield will help make sure we are.”

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch at her party’s conference in Birmingham

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The Israeli military claimed the missiles were capable of travelling around 4,000km (2,485 miles), potentially putting dozens of countries across Europe, Asia and Africa within range including London and the UK.

The best known “Iron Dome” is the one built by Israel to intercept short-range rockets, shells and mortars.

Defensive batteries, with three or four launchers armed with 20 interceptor missiles, aim to down hostile projectiles at ranges of between two miles and around 40 miles from the units.