UAE Building Massive ‘Cope Cages’ To Protect Energy Facilities From Iranian Drone Attacks
AI Analysis
The UAE is constructing large "cope cages" around critical energy infrastructure, mirroring a tactic previously employed by Russia to defend against drone attacks. This follows thousands of Iranian drone and missile attacks targeting UAE facilities, causing significant damage and prolonged recovery times. The move reflects a shift towards prioritizing physical hardening of infrastructure alongside traditional air defense systems.
Key Takeaways
- The UAE has been targeted by over 551 ballistic missiles, 29 cruise missiles, and 2,265 UAVs from Iran.
- The 'cope cages' are specifically designed to mitigate damage from one-way attack drones (like Shahed-136) and small suicide drones, not ballistic or cruise missiles.
- Key facilities damaged include the oil storage facilities at Fujairah and the Habshan natural gas processing facility, with Habshan not expected to be fully operational until 2027.
- The Pentagon recently issued guidance promoting the use of netting and physical defenses against drone attacks, signaling a broader recognition of their value.
- The UAE has reportedly conducted retaliatory secret airstrikes against Iranian targets, indicating a multi-faceted response to the threat.
Why It Matters
This deployment demonstrates a pragmatic adaptation to the evolving threat of low-cost drone warfare, particularly against critical infrastructure. The UAE’s investment in physical defenses highlights the limitations of solely relying on traditional air defense systems and may influence defense strategies in the region and globally. The incident underscores the increasing vulnerability of energy infrastructure to asymmetric attacks.
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Forced to defend against thousands of Iranian drone and missile attacks before and after the ceasefire in the now-paused U.S.-Israel war on Iran, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) appears to have taken a play from Russia and its war with Ukraine in an attempt to secure some of its energy facilities with massive metal ‘cope cages.’
An image posted on X by Israel’s I24 News outlet shows what it claims is caging around oil tanks near Dubai International Airport. In the far-right section of the photo, what appears to be a more complete metal enclosure of some of the fuel tanks can be seen, while in the foreground, construction looks to be taking place on caging for additional tanks.
בדובאי החלו למגן באמצעות רשתות ברזל אתרים אסטרטגיים שקשורים לתעשיית הנפט, סמוך לנמל התעופה pic.twitter.com/mL4n28dBSH
This seems to be the first sighting of these structures in the UAE and across the Gulf Arab nations. It is unclear when construction on the structures began or how many of these barriers the UAE is building or plans to build. We have reached out to the UAE Embassy in Washington for more details.
As we have reported in the past, the idea behind these kinds of metal structures is to mitigate the damage caused by income munitions by creating a barrier between the point of weapon impact and the target. The caging depicted is not designed to protect against Iranian ballistic missiles, and even cruise missiles could be a challenge. These kinds of structures are made to help defend against one-way attack munitions, such as the Shahed-136, many of which Iran has launched against the UAE. They can also protect from near-field small suicide drone attacks, although these have not been a major issue in the UAE during this conflict.
As noted earlier, while these structures may be new to the UAE, it is not the first time metal caging and even mesh nets have been used to protect critical energy infrastructure. Russia has employed these measures on its oil storage facilities in attempts to protect them from repeated Ukrainian drone attacks for a number of years now.
You can see some of those defensive measures in the following images and videos.
A fuel tank covered with nets for protection against drones at one of Russia's oil infrastructure facilities. pic.twitter.com/5Qm6vpaDJE
Fuel tanks on the territory of the "Nurlino" linear production and dispatch station covered with anti-drone nets as visible on Google Earth satellite imagery from September 17, 2025. https://t.co/FIAQY1zkL1 pic.twitter.com/f0d5q5koxF
🇷🇺The oil refinery in Samara, Russia has been covered with protective anti-drone cages pic.twitter.com/QFw4mWb9YY
🕸️🔥 Anti-drone net did not help the Russian oil refinery pic.twitter.com/HTUZVfOYOy
It is no surprise that the UAE would resort to such measures. Since the conflict broke out on Feb. 28, the Emirates have been particularly hard hit by Iranian attacks, especially on its energy infrastructure.
The UAE Defense Ministry says its air defenses “have engaged a total of 551 ballistic missiles, 29 cruise missiles, and 2,265 UAVs” fired by Iran.
الدفاعات الجوية الإماراتية تتعامل مع الصواريخ الباليستية والجوالة والمسيرات الإيرانية.UAE Air Defences engaged IranianBallistic and Cruise Missiles and UAVs Attacks#وزارة_الدفاع #وزارة_الدفاع_الإماراتية#MOD#UAEMinistryOfDefence pic.twitter.com/PvIDnRJw7R
Two of the UAE’s major energy infrastructure sites – the oil storage facilities at the UAE Port of Fujairah and the Habshan natural gas processing facility – have been damaged by Iranian missiles and drones. You can see video of some of the Iranian attacks on the UAE below.
🚨 Drone attack reported in UAE industrial area, causing large fire. pic.twitter.com/7CC9rPPRHG
🇮🇷🇦🇪 UAE Attacked AGAINIran is suspected to have done it in retaliation to yesterday strikes. Waiting for comment from Iran.There are reports of SMOKE at the airport, unclear if it is related to this event or something else. Pending confirmation. The UAE Ministry of… https://t.co/m0cIgIKe9D pic.twitter.com/7pxMki1CFo
⚡🇮🇷🇦🇪 Iranian attack drones struck oil storage infrastructure worth around $50 billion in Fujairah, UAE, this morning, causing a large fire.Notably, Fujairah is the only major oil export terminal in the UAE that bypasses the now closed Strait of Hormuz. Oil could hit $100 this… pic.twitter.com/nyIStj7gak
Habshan, the main natural gas plant supplying the fuel in the United Arab Emirates “will only return to full capacity next year, highlighting the long recovery times for some of the region’s most critical infrastructure that was damaged in the Iran war,” Bloomberg News noted.
🚨 The Habshan Gas Facility In 🇦🇪 UAE Will Not Be Restored To Its Complete Operational Capacity Before 2027 Because of 🇮🇷 Iranian Strikes.– Financial Times pic.twitter.com/2Bz0Y9Cy8m
The most recent Iranian attack on the UAE came on May 10, more than a month after the U.S. and Iran agreed to a ceasefire that is barely holding on. The Emirates, however, haven’t just taken defensive measures. As we noted earlier this week, reports emerged that it carried out secret airstrikes on Iranian targets.
The war has once again highlighted the need for hardened structures to protect valuable assets, an issue TWZ has frequently covered. Meanwhile, shortly before the war broke out, the U.S. took a step toward acknowledging the importance of these kinds of defensive systems. The Pentagon issued new guidance for protecting critical infrastructure against drone attacks that calls for increased use of netting, cables, and other kinds of passive physical defenses.
The following video shows War Secretary Pete Hegseth introducing the Pentagon’s new approach to protecting infrastructure from drone attacks.
Hostile drones are growing by the day. That’s why I’ve directed @SecArmy to establish the Joint Interagency Task Force 401 to secure our skies. pic.twitter.com/0ZbLYpDLaG
The new plan represented a notable shift in policy within the department. For years now, U.S. military officials have often pushed back on the utility and cost-effectiveness of investing more in the physical hardening of bases and other critical facilities, especially shelters to shield aircraft from drones and other threats.
Whether the new structures UAE is building to defend its energy infrastructure actually work will only be known should Iran launch a new round of attacks that target these sites. Clearly, the world will be watching and taking notes.
Contact the author: howard@twz.com
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