James Bond is a naval officer. Now Daniel Craig is too

By Brad Lendon, CNN

James Bond star Daniel Craig was made an honorary officer of the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy on Thursday — matching his onscreen 007 persona, who holds the rank of commander.

“I am delighted to welcome honorary Commander Daniel Craig to the Royal Navy,” First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, the head of the Royal Navy, said in a news statement.

“Daniel Craig is well known for being Commander Bond for the last 15 years — a naval officer who keeps Britain safe through missions across the globe. That’s what the real Royal Navy does every day, using technology and skill the same way as Bond himself.”

Craig wants to use his new military status — commander is the seventh-highest rank in the Royal Navy — as a way to help UK military families, according to the statement.

Craig is about to star as the British super spy for the fifth time in “No Time to Die,” which the UK military is also using to highlight some of its newest hardware.

HMS Dragon, a new Type 45 air defense destroyer, appears in the movie, the Defense Ministry said. The Royal Navy’s website calls the 8,000-ton, 152-meter (500 feet) warship one of the most advanced in the world.

In a June exercise off Scotland, HMS Dragon used its weapon systems to “smash an incoming missile into a million pieces,” a Royal Navy release said.

“I cannot believe how lucky I am to be part of this; the flames were massive!” one of the ship’s officers, Sub Lieutenant Ben Craddock, said in the statement.

That’s the kind of action you’d expect from a James Bond movie.

Other UK hardware, including C-17 Globemaster cargo jets like those that participated in the recent international airlift out of Kabul, Afghanistan, is also featured.

But the Royal Navy said the real attention, of course, is on Craig.

“Our honorary officers act as ambassadors and advocates for the service, sharing their time and expertise to spread the message about what our global, modern, and ready Royal Navy is doing around the world,” Radakin said.

Being part of one history’s most successful box-office franchises won’t hurt spread that message either.

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