The U.S. military just deployed a new class of low-cost drones in combat for the first time. By “low-cost” drones, it means these aren’t your standard fighter jets or precision missiles. They are

What happens when the cheapest aircraft in the sky starts dictating how the most expensive defenses are used? That question now sits at the center of air-defense planning. Small unmanned aircraft no longer matter only because they can strike targets.

The rapid spread of small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has created a major challenge

The United States is dominating the skies above Iran. But math is not necessarily on America’s side. Iran is using low-cost drones for precision attacks in the Middle East. The United States and its allies have air defense systems capable of intercepting a vast majority of Iranian ballistic missiles and drones, which are sophisticated yet costly.

Traditional air defence systems were designed to stop fighter jets and ballistic missiles. But those systems are often extremely expensive. In contrast, modern attack drones can be built and deployed at a fraction of the cost.

Iran’s attacks over the first day of combat have leaned heavily on drones and small-scale missile strikes, trends that could indicate either deliberate planning — or a breakdown in command and control.

Iran has launched waves of Shahed drones to menace Persian Gulf nations. The U.S. has unleashed its own copycat on Iran. It’s a sign of how war is changing.

Iran’s low-cost Shahed drones are forcing the US and its allies to spend far more on missiles and defence systems to intercept them, exposing a costly imbalance in modern air warfare.

The last time American troops would have seen Iran’s kamikaze drones was when they were attacking US military bases in the Middle East. But US soldiers are now being armed with them. Or at least, with something almost identical to the Shahed drones.