British troops based in the Middle East shot down 14 kamikaze drones overnight – the most in a single night since the Iran war began. Air defense specialists from the RAF Regiment destroyed a single-attack UAV while attacking an allied airbase in Erbil, northern Iraq.
Defense officials said the attacks are a sign that Iran and Tehran-backed militias are increasing attacks after a decrease in recent days. “What we are seeing is that the rate of attacks last night is returning to the level we saw before Eid,” a defense official said. “We know from intelligence reporting, we’ve seen it from the U.S., that the Iranians retain the ability to fire ballistic missiles, albeit at a lower rate than at the beginning of the war, and similarly with one-sided strike drones.”
He did not disclose where the drones targeting coalition forces in Iraq were fired from.
It was confirmed that RAF troops used the ground-based Rapid Sentry system, which was purchased under great secrecy in 2022, to destroy the drone.
British air defense experts have shot down nearly 70 drones in Iraq using missile launchers.
It is believed there were no British casualties in the latest attack on the base, which has come under repeated threat from UAVs since the war began nearly four weeks ago.
Several US soldiers were injured at the base following a drone attack last week.
Defense officials said several locations in the region saw an increase in attacks overnight – a clear indicator that Iran still has significant missile and drone capabilities despite heavy targeting by US and Israeli forces.
He also confirmed that Britain is ready to host a security conference on the Strait of Hormuz in London or Portsmouth.
Iran continues to de facto close the narrow waterway, with US intelligence officials claiming Iran has laid at least a dozen mines.
Britain and other European allies last week resisted Donald Trump’s call to send warships to help reopen the key trade route.
Defense officials said on Tuesday that the UK wanted to help provide a safe passage through the chokepoint “as soon as the conditions are right”.
He said it would be part of a multinational force that would include crewed and uncrewed platforms.
The UK will consider “accelerating” autonomous mine hunters into service, an official said.
Twenty-two countries have said they are ready to join efforts to secure the Strait of Hormuz.
