Reports suggest Hezbollah used public satellite imagery for drone strike on RAF Akrotiri

The Times reports that Hezbollah targeted the British RAF base in Akrotiri, Cyprus, earlier this month using drones. The attack struck a hangar where two American U2 spy aircraft were visible in publicly accessible Google Maps satellite imagery. Military sources suggested that while the strike was precise, it likely resulted from the use of accessible mapping tools and GPS rather than sophisticated intelligence operations. The recovered drone contained a Russian-made Kometa-B navigation system, a component previously identified in devices seized by Ukrainian forces. Experts noted that while some sensitive military sites globally are blurred or censored by Google at government request, this base remained exposed. Former British Army officer Justin Crabbe described the presence of U2 aircraft at the site as a poorly kept secret that made targeting easier. The British Ministry of Defence is currently under scrutiny regarding its protocols for managing sensitive visual data on public platforms.