Questions raised over defence of key British base after Iranian kamikaze drone strike on RAF Akrotiri
Explosions were heard shortly before midnight local time at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, after what the Ministry of Defence has described as a suspected drone strike on the strategically vital base.
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Speaking to LBC’s Nick Ferrari at Breakfast, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper confirmed the scale of the incident. Pressed by Ferrari on the level of damage, she said: “This was one unmanned drone that affected the airport runway. The base is still operating.”
She added that precautionary measures were being taken to move some families to other parts of Cyprus while assessments continued.
In a statement to LBC, a Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: “Our Armed Forces are responding to a suspected drone strike at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus at midnight local time. Our force protection in the region is at the highest level and the base has responded to defend our people. This is a live situation and further information will be provided in due course.”
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RAF Akrotiri is no ordinary airfield. It is one of two UK Sovereign Base Areas on Cyprus and functions as a permanent forward operating base for British and allied aircraft.
From here, the RAF has launched missions against Islamic State, supported operations across the Levant, and provided a critical logistics and intelligence hub for the eastern Mediterranean and Gulf. Its location makes it a strategic linchpin.
Nick Ferrari challenged the Foreign Secretary repeatedly on Britain’s posture in the region. Earlier in the interview, he had asked when the UK was informed about the joint US-Israeli strike on the Ayatollah’s compound. Cooper admitted: “So we didn’t know about that until after it happened.”
When Ferrari pushed her on what that meant for the special relationship, she declined detailed operational comment but acknowledged that “we are in a position now where there is obviously attacks going on on partner countries in the Gulf from Iran.”
Attention is now focused squarely on how the base is defended. The UK’s primary land-based air defence system is Sky Sabre, which replaced the ageing Rapier system. It uses the Giraffe AMB radar and CAMM missiles, capable of tracking multiple targets and intercepting threats at ranges of up to 25 kilometres at high speed. It is designed to counter aircraft and cruise missiles, and is regarded as one of the most advanced systems in Europe.
However, military analysts have long warned of a “volume versus cost” problem.
Shahed-style drones are relatively cheap, slow and often fly at low altitude. Using a missile costing close to £1 million to destroy a drone worth a fraction of that risks turning any sustained attack into a war of attrition.
In a swarm scenario, where multiple drones approach simultaneously from different angles, even advanced systems can be stretched.
Cyprus’s mountainous terrain, particularly the Troodos range, can create radar shadows, allowing low-flying drones to hug the coastline and appear with minimal warning. Unlike ballistic missiles, which are tracked by satellite and early-warning systems, drones can present what one defence source described as a “zero-minute” threat, where the first alert may be the sound overhead.
Akrotiri’s protection does not rely solely on land-based systems. In previous regional crises, Royal Navy Type 45 destroyers such as HMS Diamond or HMS Duncan have been positioned offshore to provide an additional layer of air defence using the Sea Viper missile system, extending the protective bubble well beyond the shoreline.
Electronic warfare capabilities can also be deployed to jam or disrupt GPS signals used by incoming drones before they reach the Sovereign Base Areas.
Ferrari also pressed Cooper on the broader use of UK bases by the United States. She confirmed that Diego Garcia could be used for defensive action but stated clearly that Cyprus was not being used for offensive operations. “This is about the US being able to use UK bases to deal with some of those launchers… to prevent strikes as a defensive, proportionate defensive action,” she said.
A direct strike on RAF Akrotiri raises questions about whether Britain will increase its defensive footprint in Cyprus, reposition naval assets, or bolster air defence systems already stretched by deployments elsewhere.
For now, the Ministry of Defence insists force protection in the region is at its highest level and that the base remains operational.