A kamikaze drone strike hit the RAF Akrotiri, a key British airbase, in early March amid the wider US–Israel conflict with Iran, according to The Times. Investigators found Russian‑made navigation technology inside the unmanned aircraft, linking it to systems previously seen in Russian drones over Ukraine and raising concerns about cooperation between Iran and Moscow.
The attack, believed to have been launched from Lebanon by an Iran‑aligned group, caused limited damage but exposed vulnerabilities at the base and prompted the UK to bolster regional air and counter‑drone defenses. They write:
The kamikaze drone that struck a British airbase in Cyprus was equipped with Russian military hardware.
The drone hit RAF Akrotiri on Sunday March 1. It contained a Russian-made Kometa-B navigation system, a piece of hardware first seen in drones intercepted by Ukrainian air defences in December. […]
The discovery, which provides the first evidence that Russian military equipment is being used in the Iran conflict, raises concerns about Moscow’s growing footprint in the Middle East war. It follows reports that Russia is passing intelligence to Iran to help it attack American forces in the region, including the locations of US warships and aircraft. […]
British defence intelligence believes Russia sent 55,000 one-way attack drones into Ukraine last year, a fivefold increase on 2024. Almost 600 civilians are believed to have been killed by drones in Ukraine last year.
Read more here.
