The rise in UK air and drone strikes in Syria since September 2018 has been laid bare in the MoD’s latest responses to a Drone Wars UK FoI request. The number of British strikes in Syria per month rose to… Read More ›
Syria
The Gatwick drone: A taste of the technology
Drones dominated the headlines over the Christmas and New Year period after sightings of one or more commercially available drones closed Gatwick airport to flights for 2½ days, disrupting thousands of passengers. The inability of the authorities to track down… Read More ›
MoD accidentally reveals British drones firing thermobaric missiles in Syria
The Ministry of Defence has revealed for the first time – seemingly accidentally – that British drones are firing thermobaric weapons in Syria. The disclosure comes in an Freedom of Information (FoI) response to Drone Wars detailing the use of… Read More ›
UK drone strike kills civilian in Syria admits MoD
For the first time, the Ministry of Defence has admitted a civilian death in its air campaign against ISIS in Iraq and Syria. The strike, from an RAF Reaper drone, occurred on 26 March according to a written statement by… Read More ›
Cost of UK air and drone strikes in Iraq and Syria reach £1.75 billion
Analysis of figures released in response to Freedom of Information requests by Drone Wars UK indicate that the UK has spent £1.75bn on armed air missions against ISIS in Iraq and Syria since August 2014. It should be noted that… Read More ›
New FoI data release on UK air and drone operations in Iraq and Syria
After a lengthy delay in responding to our FoI requests, the MOD has now provided data on UK air operations in Iraq and Syria for the second half of 2017. For our updated complete set of figures for UK air… Read More ›
After ten years, time to ground Britain’s drones
The imminent defeat of ISIS in Iraq should see British drones grounded. But will they continue to launch strikes in what is becoming a perpetual war? This month (October 2017) marks ten years of British Reaper drone operations. Acquired on… Read More ›
PM must publish Intelligence Committee report on UK drone killings
Soon after it had been re-constituted in the new parliament, the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) issued a statement in October 2015 saying that an investigation into the drone strikes in which British nationals were killed was an “immediate priority”…. Read More ›
New Report: British Drone Operations Against ISIS, 2014-2016
Drone Wars UK is today publishing a new report detailing UK armed drone and air operations against ISIS. The report contains data on UK operations in Iraq and Syria gained through Freedom of Information requests since 2014 as well as… Read More ›
British military drones in 2016: Strikes continue as future drone programmes progress
The UK continued to use its current drone fleet while progressing future armed drone programmes during the year. Here’s a round-up of some of the main news from 2016 UK drones in Iraq and Syria British Reaper drones continued to… Read More ›
Truth and consequences: One year on what we know (and what we don’t) about the Khan killing
One year ago this weekend (on 21 Aug) an RAF pilot sitting in a Ground Control Station at RAF Waddington pushed a button and Hellfire missiles flashed away from a British Reaper drone loitering a few miles from Raqqa in… Read More ›
British air strikes in Iraq and Syria increase by 85% – UK approaching 1,000 strikes milestone
Analysis of data released by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) shows that British air strikes in Iraq and Syria in the first half of the year increased by an enormous 85% over the previous six months. FoI data as well… Read More ›
FoI reveals only 5% of British air strikes in Iraq and Syria are pre-planned
A Freedom of Information request by Drone Wars UK has revealed that only 5% of British air strikes in Iraq and Syria are pre-planned. According to the FoI reponse from the Ministry of Defence out of 414 UK air strikes… Read More ›
Scepticism over casualty claims as new data suggests some UK drones may have moved
New data about UK military operations in Iraq and Syria has been released to Drone Wars UK and Vice News over the past few days following separate Freedom of Information (FoI) requests. Vice News obtained details of the number of… Read More ›
