Tel Aviv: Gulf states were not ready for the Iranian armed drones that attacked their cities since the war broke out. In a desperate move, they requested the urgent help of Britain and Ukraine.
British counter-drone expertise have been dispatched to the Middle East, notably the Gulf, to aid partners in intercepting Iranian drones as attacks escalate.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer revealed that British professionals, in collaboration with Ukrainian experts, are assisting Gulf governments such as the Persian Gulf in improving their defences against Iranian Shahed drones. This assistance focuses on defensive operations, with RAF planes and ground forces aggressively destroying threats aimed at allies like as Qatar and Bahrain.
Since late February 2026, Iran has launched over 2,000 drones and missiles at Gulf States like the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Bahrain, overwhelming local air defences in certain cases.
British counter-drone units, trained with Ukrainian information on Shahed threats, were deployed to bolster regional capabilities without engaging in aggressive operations. RAF Typhoons from Qatar and Cyprus destroyed many Iranian drones while protecting UK personnel and allies. This is consistent with current UK patrols under defensive missions.
The Ukrainian solution: deploying “Interceptor Drones” and cheap solutions that cost only a few thousand dollars. Projects like “Octopus”, a British-Ukrainian joint venture, are designed to produce thousands of such cheap interceptors every month.
Ukraine has offered the Gulf states a “service swap”: the supply of interceptor drones and experts in exchange for transferring Patriot missiles they hold in their warehouses to Ukraine, as it desperately needs them against Russian ballistic missiles.
-The writer is an Israel-based freelance journalist. The views expressed are of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of Raksha Anirveda
