The Ministry of Defence has said non-essential personnel and families at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus have been relocated to temporary accommodation elsewhere on the island as part of measures to strengthen security at the base.
In a written parliamentary answer, Defence Minister Al Carns said the move forms part of broader steps taken to protect service personnel and their families amid heightened regional tensions.
The question was tabled by Conservative MP James Cartlidge, who asked what actions the Government had taken since 1 March to protect both personnel and their families stationed at the RAF’s key operational base in Cyprus.
Carns said the Government had taken precautionary steps to reduce risk to families while maintaining operational readiness at the base.
“We are providing non-essential personnel and their families with supported temporary accommodation elsewhere on the island of Cyprus,” he said.
Essential personnel remain at RAF Akrotiri, where the minister said force protection measures have been maintained at the highest level.
“For essential personnel who remain on site, our force protection measures are maintained at the highest level,” Carns added.
The minister also outlined wider defensive preparations undertaken in the region earlier in the year. According to Carns, the UK has moved additional defensive assets to both Cyprus and Qatar in recent months.
“Throughout January and February, we were moving defensive assets to Cyprus and Qatar such as fighter jets, air defence missiles, advanced radar, and systems to take down drones,” he said.
RAF Akrotiri is one of the UK’s key overseas bases and has been used extensively for operations in the Middle East. The base hosts fast jets, intelligence aircraft and support units, and plays a central role in regional air operations and surveillance.
I noticed the defence secretary told everyone the UK had more jets in Cyprus than anyone else… Could someone explain to him that it’s UK RAF base, I think most people would be worried if we didn’t – a bit like saying the French have more fighter jets in France than any other country.
Cyprus is part owned by Greece and part by turkey, both of which have their own air forces. Yes the UK base there is UK owned but not the whole island. The statement is correct.
The statement is correct, but is typical of HMG, in that it seeks to deflect at the same time.
I assume it was in response to criticism about AD, which is usually best, by my understanding of it, as a multi layered system, of which we have very little.
So he highlights the jets, which should be alongside, not instead of, GBAD assets ranging from an AA cannon to SAM.
We have a Sqn ( maybe 2, depending on how much kit 63 QCS of the RAF Reg has ) of ORCUS jammers and Rapid Sentry, numbers of which are not disclosed and even the purchase in 2024 had zero publicity from HMG.
Hardly impressive for a nation that likes to thump it’s chest a lot with the world’s 5th biggest budget?
You are aware HMG is now the incorrect term it was dropped by the current government. The UK dropped “HM Government” in favour of “UK Government” in July 2024, via an update to official branding guidelines. 🙂
I did read of it, yes.
I’m not playing their class war games, however.
Suggests that Sky Sabre is there, unless they’re hinting at Rapid Sentry
Telegraph reports yesterday
“Previously, the RAF Regiment had deployed with Rapid Sentry, a stand-alone system using lightweight multirole missiles (LMM), like those used in Ukraine, and radar technology.”
LMMs are very much cheaper than CAMM, so I can see why they might be preferred from a unit cost point of view. However the question remains, if either is deployed, why did a drone get through? Are other drones being intercepted?
Sky Sabre will be useful when you consider that our Typhoons are nicely dispersed close together under canvas marquees to save money, in that pic above
Will it?
Isn’t the issue being able to launch the missiles so they don’t cross the active areas of the base?
Hence why. CAMM equipped frigate would actually be more useful on the seaward side of the airfield?
OK the land was can be protected by Sky Sabre.
There’s plenty of land east, south east, and south of the airfield, admin, and ops parts of the station proper before the sea. Launchers could happily go there?
Eastward, there is the ESA, possibly long disused, then further on Cape Gata Mole with boats and yaughts.
South East, Cape Gata has some sort of communications field or more likely an asset of the JSSU (C)
South, ranges.
South West, same, and the site of the old St Mary’s Hospital.
No need for missiles to flyover the airfield.
Even northwards, on the land ward side, beyond the wire is the Akrotiri Salt lake site with no habitation save even bigger concentrations of comms antenna.
If the UK had even average GBAD capability and assets there’d be no need for CAAM Frigates which should be off defending tadk groups, not covering a land target as HMG desperately scrambles anythung it csn to cover it’s arse.
T45, with it’s capability too, ideally you’d have land systems.
It have to disagree and say the sterile zone is not large enough for launching missiles vertically.
Well if thats so I happily give way, that level of technical detail is beyond me. 👍
I wonder what the set up in the Falklands is at MPA? There are isolated assets all round that.
And that also brings in to question defence of sites in the UK?
We obviously didn’t mind in 2012 when Rapier was in London for the Olympics and the US has AD on the Whitehouse roof.
What are the rules and issues with launch parameters of such things?
And yes, I know LMM and Rapier FSC were not vertical launch, but what are the issues?
The issue is that CAMM is vertical soft launch.
So there has to be a sterile zone around as the missile turns and blasts efflux gasses as it rotates.
Jets don’t take kindly to other efflux gases as the delicate stage of take off and landing.
Guns and LMM are a different issue as they can fire to a limited elevation thereby retaining the sterile zone for fast jet operations.
However, a ship up threat on that side does seem to me to be the optimal solution for both BM and cruise type threats. Which is why it was practised in 2013 with an E3/T45 pairing. The E3 isn’t really necessary as there is plenty of good radar high up there anyway although every little helps!
You’re right mate, beautifully dispersed around the airfield.
No, lined up under tarpaulin in one spot for years.
I hope that has changed but the RAF dislike it from an efficiency point of view.
Problem is that RAF ‘efficiency’ is a bit like listening to MBA lectures – very misleading without experience.
That said all services are cut through the bone.
OT.
Well, My time here has finally come,
Thanks to everyone for the fun interactions/altercations during my last year here, no more places to visit now, I’m hanging up the key and heading to pastures green.
Love and hugs,
Harry the Halfwit. XXX
Enjoy the cruising, open road, better weather etc, etc. Always good to read ur posts.
Ha, gay!
Seriously though, you’re not going anywhere. Who’s upset you? I want names!
See you soon, under a new alias no doubt.
What concerns me is why the government /mod isn’t coming clean on what actually happened. They have declined to say where the drone was launched from other than it wasn’t Iran and they have not made any statements around if it was shot down and the debris landed or not, and if not how did it get through.
Adding extra kit might not be needed, but we don’t know.
The whole situation in relation to the base is ridiculous, I watched news night last night with a government minister claiming the T45 was designed to protect carriers as some sort of excuse as to why it wasn’t initially sent to Cyprus, then watched Healy floundering in an interview on the deployment with some fluff about predeployment which was clearly ineffective and only added to the embarrassment especially when you consider the existing search and track radars on Cyprus has a range of nearly 1000km so essentially we confessed we done zero integration work between what ever was forward deployed and the exist radar systems on the base. Not surprise because this government just like the last doesn’t care about defence. We now have Cypriot government thinking of renegotiating the terms of the lease! Its beyond belief we have successive governments so inept on defence but the real travesty is it not going to improve.