British pilots and gunners have destroyed more than 40 Iranian drones since the conflict began, it emerged this afternoon.
Armed Forces Minister Al Carns revealed the shocking figure as he praised RAF and Royal Navy pilots and ground based teams for saving countless lives.
The one-way suicide drones would have caused devastation across the Middle East without UK forces intercepting their flight and using lessons learned from Russian attacks on Ukraine.
The Iranians are mirroring Russian tactics, launching large numbers of dumb drones to confuse defensive systems so a ballistic missile can leak through protection shields, according to UK officials.
They declined to say whereabouts in the region British teams have shot down Iranian drones, or what weapons systems were used, for security reasons.
But it is known that RAF and Royal Navy teams have been active in Cyprus, northern Iraq and Gulf states.
Al Carns said: ‘We live in very dangerous times, there has been a 30 per cent increase in Russian activity and we have a developing crisis in the Middle East.
‘We continue to engage with partners and our personnel are doing an amazing job. Pilots have completed more than 650 hours and more than 40 drones have been neutralised. Huge amounts of lives have been saved.’
