France will send a frigate and anti-drone and anti-missile systems to Cyprus
France will send anti-missile and anti-drone systems to Cyprus, as well as a frigate, after a British air base on the island was attacked on Monday with drones, the Cypriot Government reported this Tuesday.
The Government spokesperson, Konstantinos Letymbiotis, confirmed in a press conference the French military contribution, which adds to Greece’s deployment of four fighter jets and two frigates to defend the Mediterranean island, a partner of the European Union.
Letymbiotis added that the Government of Cyprus also conveyed a similar request for support to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in a telephone conversation on Monday. The spokesperson indicated that the German response was positive, although the process to formalize the aid has not yet been completed.
Monday’s attack targeted UK sovereign areas in Cyprus, including the British Air Force facility at Akrotiri, and the Cyprus government blamed the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah, an ally of Iran.
Although the attack caused no casualties, the incident raised the security alert and highlighted Cyprus’ growing exposure to regional tensions in the context of the conflict unleashed by the United States and Israel with Iran, since it is located less than 250 kilometers from Lebanon.
Two separate drone incidents were reported on Monday, first an Iranian-designed Shahed aircraft crashed on the runway at the Akrotiri base causing limited damage and later two other unmanned craft were intercepted. Apparently, the anti-aircraft defenses did not detect the devices because they were flying at a very low altitude.
Athens already sent four F-16 fighters to Cyprus on Monday, while two frigates sail towards the island, one of them equipped with a Centauro anti-drone system that is capable of identifying and neutralizing targets at low altitude.
The British bases in Cyprus, established after the island’s independence in 1960, are a key point for operations in the Middle East and the eastern Mediterranean, which has increased their strategic relevance in the current conflict. (Efe)
