The United States and allies have encountered iranian Shahed threat not for the first time during current strikes on iran, but this is effectively the first time they have been forced to repel such massive attacks.
Although overall the U.S. and other countries have capabilities to destroy strike drones using helicopters or APKWS missiles adapted to fighters, more expensive weapons like AIM-9 or AIM-120 air-to-air missiles are also used to combat drones, shooting down Shaheds with which is by no means cost-effective.
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Following conclusions from American military's drone combat, Defense One published material which drew certain interim conclusions from slightly less than two weeks of combat operations in iran in the context specifically of anti-drone combat. Although they quoted an eloquent quote from one former British military member that shooting down drones from fifth-generation F-35 fighter is like "cracking nuts with a sledgehammer," overall the U.S. emphasizes they are increasingly using cheaper strike assets against iranian Shaheds.
"I think you've noticed that over time we've generally moved to the other side of the cost curve toward unmanned systems," noted U.S. Central Command chief Admiral Brad Cooper, emphasizing "now we're spending a lot of time shooting down hundred-thousand-dollar unmanned systems with ten-thousand-dollar weapons."
Although drone costs here may be inflated while countermeasure costs understated, one can recall recent news that the U.S. transferred around 10,000 Merops system anti-drone interceptors to the Middle East, which passed combat trials in Ukraine, where one drone cost now reaches $14-15,000 and can be reduced with large orders down to $3-5,000.
However, the greatest attention is drawn by the thesis of former fighter pilot and Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies dean Dave Deptula, who the publication says emphasized the strategic importance of destroying drone launchers themselves, noting such a task can be performed by multirole F-16 fighter.
"The best way to defend is to attack. So I'm going to go out and try to blow up all these Shahed launchers," Deptula noted.
Defense Express notes that combating threats must always be comprehensive, and destroying launchers can indeed be one element. However, recall that iranian Shahed launcher looks like this:
This involves quite a mobile launch asset that is not difficult to scale and operate literally from any point on the country's territory. The U.S. already learned from hunting ballistic missile launchers that after destroying two-thirds of missile launchers, searching for remainders became more dangerous and difficult. iran can adapt to this by betting specifically on mass drone launches. Although since operation start, iran has significantly reduced use of both missiles and unmanned systems.
At the same time, a more effective way of combating the threat may be destroying warehouses with the same missiles or drones or weapons production facilities. However, in iran's case this too may have its difficulties.
Previously, Defense Express reported that new satellite images of UAE airbase reveal possible heavy losses after iranian attacks.
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