The United States' problem in the Iran war isn't what it can blow up—it's what it can't see. Nicholas Kulish of the New York Times reports that even as American strikes level drone factories like one recently hit near Isfahan, Iran's Shahed attack drones remain cheap, simple, and surprisingly hard to stop. Built from commercial parts, assembled in small workshops, and launched off trucks, the Shaheds give Tehran a way to keep hammering Gulf states and constraining traffic through the Strait of Hormuz at a fraction of what it costs to shoot them down. Each 8-by-12-foot Shahed-136 drone, with a range of up to 1,500 miles, costs an estimated $35,000, while interceptors cost "millions apiece," Kulish writes.
Experts tell the Times that Iran can likely keep churning out drones—possibly with help from Russia, said to be producing up to 1,000 daily—even as the US and Israel target production sites. "If it's relatively easy to do, to bend aluminum, to 3D print, a basic motorcycle engine, then it's harder to track where it's coming from," a security expert tells the Times. Iran is reportedly still firing an estimated 70 to 90 drones a day, down from early-war highs topping 400 but enough to rattle Gulf militaries. With Iran focusing on air defenses, radars, and command hubs rather than traditional battlefield targets, Washington's core question is now how long it can afford to keep swatting the drones, Kulish writes. Read his full analysis here.
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
