Germany will replace the British destroyer HMS Dragon with its frigate Saxony, which will be relocated to the eastern Mediterranean Sea, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced on Tuesday. "As part of NATO's Standing Maritime Group 1, they are moving the ship to the Mediterranean, and we are replacing the HMS Dragon with our frigate Saxony," Pistorius told the press in Singapore. NATO's Standing Maritime Group 1 is one of the forces that provide a constant maritime presence for the alliance. In that group, the United Kingdom was set to take command with the HMS Dragon, but following talks between Pistorius and his British counterpart John Healey, Germany will now do so. "We are taking over command. It was initially planned that the British would do it, but now we are taking it on with our frigate Saxony," he added. The frigate Saxony joins the unit that Germany has in the North Atlantic, where the German Navy already has the Brandenburg ship, a German Army spokesman confirmed. The Brandenburg frigate is in the Icelandic port of Reykjavik after carrying out maneuvers with NATO allies. The HMS Dragon is in the eastern Mediterranean after Iran targeted a British military base in Cyprus in its retaliatory attacks following the start of US and Israeli airstrikes against the Persian country.
