Ukraine To Provide Air Defense To Help Stop Iran Drone Attacks

Experience counts. With Iran launching a far more robust assault on Middle East countries following the US and Israeli air attacks, the countries under attack like the UAE and Saudi Arabia, as well as NATO bases in the region are asking for help from the world's leading experts in anti-drone defense: Ukraine. 

Ukraine had already volunteered to provide its expertise and that offer was expedited by a request from the UK whose thousands of expats in the region, as well as its base in Cyprus, have now been attacked. JL

Leo Chiu reports in the Kyiv Post:

The UK is bringing in “experts from Ukraine” to help the Gulf states shoot down Iranian drones amid the recent US and Israeli strikes on Iran. Ukrainian President Zelensky offered to help Kyiv’s European allies fend off Iranian drones and missiles based on lessons learned in Ukraine, with Russia relying heavily on Iranian weapons in its Ukraine invasion. “The situation in the Middle East shows how difficult it is to provide protection from missiles and Shaheds, even in the Gulf countries, which have better air defense systems than our partners have provided us so far." On Saturday, Iran hit a military base in Bahrain, narrowly missing British personnel and attacked a British air base on Cyprus. 

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Sunday that the UK is bringing in “experts from Ukraine” to help the Gulf states shoot down Iranian drones amid the recent US and Israeli strikes on Iran.

In an official statement issued on Sunday, Starmer said the UK “was not involved in the strikes on Iran,” but said Tehran’s retaliatory strikes have threatened British nationals in the region.

“Our Armed Forces who are located across the region are also being put at risk by Iran’s actions. Yesterday Iran hit a military base in Bahrain, narrowly missing British personnel,” Starmer said. The US confirmed three military deaths in the ongoing operations against Tehran.

 

Starmer added that London’s Middle Eastern allies, along with the US, have requested assistance, and the UK will help shoot down Iranian drones with support from Ukrainian specialists alongside its own experts.

 

“Our partners in the Gulf have asked us to do more to defend them, and it is my duty to protect British lives… And we will also bring experts from Ukraine together with our own experts to help Gulf partners shoot down Iranian drones attacking them,” he wrote.

Starmer reiterated multiple times in the statement that the UK would refrain from “offensive action” for now, with the response limited to allowing US forces to “use British bases” to strike “storage depots or the launchers… used to fire the missiles.”

 

“But the only way to stop the threat is to destroy the missiles at source – in their storage depots or the launchers which used to fire the missiles. The United States has requested permission to use British bases for that specific and limited defensive purpose,” Starmer wrote.

“We have taken the decision to accept this request – to prevent Iran firing missiles across the region, killing innocent civilians, putting British lives at risk, and hitting countries that have not been involved,” he added.

During his Sunday evening address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also offered to help Kyiv’s European allies to fend off Iranian drones and missiles based on lessons learned in Ukraine, with Russia relying heavily on Iranian weapons in its Ukraine invasion.

 

“The situation in the Middle East shows how difficult it is to provide 100% protection from missiles and Shaheds, even in the Gulf countries, which have better air defense systems than our partners have provided us so far, and have a larger number of systems, they still don’t shoot down all ballistic missiles,” Zelensky wrote.

“There are also Shaheds that the air defense in the region has not stopped,” he added. “We are ready to spread this experience, ready to help those nations that helped Ukraine this winter, and in general during this war.”

Zelensky said on Saturday that over the past four years of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Moscow has launched over 57,000 Shahed-type drones – including Iranian-made Shaheds and the Russian Geran – against targets in Ukraine.

Spectators have criticized Europe’s inadequate drone preparedness after 19 Russian drones breached Polish airspace on Sept. 10. NATO dispatched Polish F-16s, Dutch F-35s, and Italian airborne early warning and control (AWACS) and refueling aircraft to intercept them, with operational costs far exceeding the value of the drones themselves.

 

After the Polish airspace incursion, the EU pushed for a so-called “drone wall” to fend off future Russian drone incursions based on the lessons learned from Ukraine.