Dubai airport fits fuel tanks with metal cages to guard against drone strikes

Footage and photos circulating online show that Dubai International Airport has installed large metal cage structures around fuel storage tanks on the airport's southern side. The lattice enclosures are meant to detonate incoming drones at a distance from the tanks, rather than letting them strike the tank walls directly.

The measure follows an attack on 16 March, when an explosive-laden drone described as Iranian struck one of the airport's fuel tanks. The strike set off a large fire and led to a temporary closure of the airspace. Arriving aircraft were diverted or forced to turn back during the closure.

Commercial flight operations resumed roughly eight hours later, even as smoke was still rising from the damaged tank, according to the account. The affected tank is one of ten within a single fuel storage facility on the airport's southern perimeter.

Word of planned additional protective measures first emerged in May, when images and videos of the cage construction began circulating. The structures have since been completed. Similar wire-and-metal cage defenses have been used elsewhere to shield vehicles, military sites and energy infrastructure from drone attack, notably in the war between Russia and Ukraine.

The airport operator has not responded to a request for comment on the security upgrade. It remains unclear whether further protective measures are planned for other parts of the airport's fuel infrastructure. It is also unclear whether anyone was injured in the March attack, a detail mentioned but not elaborated on in available material.