The U.S. is working with its Gulf ally, the United Arab Emirates, to develop counter-drone solutions and thwart attacks before they can even be launched, the commander of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) Kenneth F. McKenzie has announced.
McKenzie was on an official visit to the UAE, where he met Lt. Gen. Hamad Mohammed Thani al-Rumaithi, Chief of Staff of the UAE Armed Forces, and addressed “several issues of common concern,” on Tuesday.
The collaboration comes in the wake of several successive drone and missile attacks on the UAE capital Abu Dhabi, most of which have been claimed by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
The first attack, on Jan. 17, targeted facilities of state oil producer ADNOC and an area near Abu Dhabi International Airport, killing three people. The most significant attack to happen on Emirati soil, UAE authorities described it as having been carried out by both drones and missiles.
A second attack just one week later was thwarted by U.S. forces’ Patriot missile defense system at Abu Dhabi’s Al Dhafra Air Base, which the U.S. said was done in tandem with UAE forces.
Abu Dhabi said a third missile attack on Jan. 31, during Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s visit and claimed by the Houthis, was also intercepted.
A recent attack on Feb. 3 featured three “hostile drones” which were intercepted by UAE forces, the country’s Defense Ministry said.
Seen as one of the most stable countries in the Middle East, the oil-rich UAE is armed with THAAD and Patriot PAC-3 missile defense systems, some of the most expensive and most advanced in the world.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin last week announced the deployment of a destroyer equipped with ballistic missile defenses to the UAE for patrols, as well as F-22 fighter jets to the region.
The U.S. and UAE have long been allies, and in January 2021 the UAE became the first Arab country to sign a deal enabling it to purchase American F-35 fighter jets and lethal drones.
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