As conflict continues to unfold across the Middle East, Siete Hamminga, CEO of Robin Radar Systems, highlights the need for reliable counter UAS systems that combine rapid deployment with agility to address the growing threat of drone attacks.
Operational experience from recent conflicts is reshaping how countries think about protecting their airspace. Lessons from Ukraine in particular are providing valuable insight into how drone threats evolve and how defence systems must adapt to respond.
The detection dilemma
Every conflict is different, but there is a common trend. The low cost, quick manufacture nature of drones means that countries using them are changing strategies and tactics continuously. This is a massive challenge for their opponents and is changing how defence teams have to operate.
The aerial defence challenge facing Gulf nations is evolving rapidly.
Successful drone defence begins with detection. Many of the sophisticated air defence systems deployed across the region were designed to detect high end threats such as ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and manned aircraft. While effective against these targets, they are not optimised to detect and classify smaller unmanned aerial systems flying at low altitude. Yet these types of drones are increasingly being used in attacks across the region.
“A key issue today is the use of drones that fly low, slow and with a very small radar signature. Traditional air defence radars were never designed for this type of target or for the volumes that these can be used in. A further complication is that Iran is launching drones from multiple locations at multiple targets at once.”
Robin Radar has direct experience of these challenges in Ukraine, where fixed-wing drones pose a near-daily threat to critical infrastructure; that operational experience has informed the development of advanced radar capabilities specifically designed for drone detection, including the Long-Range Mode (LRM), which was developed and stress-tested through numerous IRIS deployments and led to the radar’s range being extended to 12 km in 2025.
“In Ukraine we have seen the pace of drone innovation accelerate dramatically,” said Siete. “That environment forces defence technologies to evolve quickly. The lessons learned there are directly relevant for countries facing similar threats today. Defenders must be able to detect, track and classify multiple small targets simultaneously across complex environments.”
Robin Radar’s 3D counter UAS radar, IRIS, was designed specifically to meet this challenge. It provides 360° coverage and can detect, classify, and track multiple drones simultaneously across a wide area. Lightweight and portable, IRIS can be deployed in under 15 minutes on buildings, tripods, or vehicles, and even operates while on the move. Its rapid deployment, real-time classification, and easy integration with existing defence systems allow operators to identify threats earlier and respond faster as situations evolve.
Robin Radar has already deployed IRIS in Ukraine, Jordan and other Gulf nations to support air defence operations. By providing reliable early detection and classification of drone threats, these systems help operators respond faster and integrate detection into wider defence networks.
The need for this type of capability is increasingly clear in the Middle East, where long range drones can travel significant distances and operate across large and complex theatres.
A flexible response to an evolving threat
Another lesson from recent conflicts is that drone threats evolve extremely quickly. New platforms appear, tactics change, and attack profiles shift over time. Defence systems must therefore be flexible enough to adapt as the conflict environment changes.
IRIS was designed with this in mind. Its architecture allows systems to be deployed rapidly and integrated with existing air defence networks. As new threats emerge, IRIS radar coverage can be expanded or repositioned to protect critical infrastructure, military assets and civilian populations. This flexibility allows countries to respond dynamically as the threat develops rather than relying on static systems that are difficult to adapt.
“The reality is that drone threats change continuously,” said Siete. “Defence systems need to be able to adapt just as fast. Flexibility and rapid deployment are essential. We are seeing in the Middle East that targeting can vary day by day as the participants trade blows.”
The economic challenge
When compact, relatively low cost drones pose a recurring threat to critical infrastructure and people, they must be neutralised repeatedly. Yet the countermeasures traditionally used to intercept aerial threats are often significantly more expensive than the drones themselves.
In some cases, missiles costing millions of dollars are used to destroy drones worth only a few thousand. This imbalance creates a clear need for cost effective detection systems that allow defences to be scaled across large areas while integrating with appropriate countermeasures.
“The key advantage of high impact, lower cost defence technology is its potential for mass deployment,” explains Siete. “It allows large areas of a nation to be protected by an off the shelf layer of early warning and detection.”
“We realise this is not just a military challenge but a societal one,” said Siete. “Olympic games, high profile events, borders, prisons, embassies, harbours and ports are all critical infrastructure that need protection today. What countries need is a new breed of radar company that is more adaptive to change.”
As we are seeing across the Middle East, aerial threats are becoming more frequent and more sophisticated. By applying the operational lessons learned from Ukraine and continuing to adapt radar technology to meet evolving threats, Robin Radar is working to provide early warning systems that deliver greater awareness, seamless integration and faster response. Protecting people by keeping the skies safe remains the ultimate goal.