British troops have shot down a record number of 'kamikaze' drones in a single night since the Iran war began, defence officials have revealed. Using the UK's Rapid Sentry defence weapon system, specialist forces shot down at least 14 incoming missiles fired by Iran or its proxies. The teams were protecting a base they share with US troops in Erbil, northern Iraq, and are part of the RAF Regiment, which defends British assets.
This brings the total number of drones and missiles shot down by small RAF Regiment units in northern Iraq to at least 70 since the conflict started. The troops are using the Lightweight Multi-role Missile (LMM Martlett), which has a range of about five miles and is fired from a Rapid Sentry launcher. A British official told the Daily Mirror: 'We have seen over the last few days, until last night, a reduction in the rate of firing... What we saw last night in a number of places was a step up again.'
The official added: 'In Erbil, where we have UK forces operating the Rapid Sentry system, they shot down 14 one-way attack drones just in one night. This was hugely impressive action, and that is the largest number they shot down in a single night since war began.' The attacks on the northern Iraq base came hours after US President Donald Trump was accused by Iran of lying about peace talks between the two countries.
Major air strikes by US and Israeli warplanes have been launched across Iran overnight, targeting military sites. However, the Iranian Red Crescent claims the attacks have damaged or destroyed more than 82,000 civilian structures across the country. Head of the IRCS, Pirhossein Kolivand, said: 'Since the beginning of the war up to now, 82,417 civilian units have been damaged and destroyed in airstrikes.'
Claims have also emerged that Saudi Arabia's de facto leader, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has been pushing President Trump to continue the war against Iran. Sources suggest the Prince argues that the US-Israeli military campaign presents a 'historic opportunity' to remake the Middle East and eliminate Iran's hard-line government. Meanwhile, Israel has launched strikes across Lebanon targeting fuel stations used by Hezbollah, and Kuwait and Saudi Arabia have intercepted drone and missile attacks.
