🚨🇺🇸🇮🇷 The United States appears to have found a far more cost-effective way to counter Iran’s low-cost drone tactics.
Around 10,000 Merops interceptor drones have reportedly been deployed across the Middle East. Each unit currently costs about $14,000, with prices expected to drop to $3,000–$5,000 as production scales up.
For months, Iran’s strategy relied on exhausting U.S. air defenses—forcing expensive systems like $4 million Patriot interceptors to shoot down relatively cheap $20,000 Shahed drones. That imbalance created a costly defense equation for Washington.
Now the strategy is shifting. Using a $3,000 interceptor drone to neutralize a $20,000 attack drone dramatically changes the economics of air defense.
Interestingly, this approach mirrors tactics widely used in Ukraine’s drone warfare—an idea the U.S. initially hesitated to adopt but is now embracing as the conflict evolves.
Bloomberg
#Geopolitics #DroneWarfare #MilitaryTechnology #MiddleEast #DefenseStrategy
