Shahed, what Iran's drones are and how they work

According to analyses quoted by the Guardian, one of these drones can cost between $20,000 and $50,000 to produce. And the nonsense lies in the defence. Because American and Israeli anti-aircraft, and those of the Gulf countries, are often using air defence systems made of interceptor missiles that can cost over two million dollars per launch. The Patriot.

Reuters analysts have repeatedly explained this imbalance: to destroy a relatively cheap drone, a country may have to use a weapon that is dozens of times more expensive.

It is an economic ratio that in military circles is called thecost-exchange ratio. And it is one of the reasons why these drones are changing warfare.

Another element in favour of the Shahed is the quantity. According to military analyses quoted by the Guardian, Iran is able to produce hundreds of drones a day and launch many of them simultaneously, creating what the military calls the swarm effect. The Ayatollahs would have about 80,000 of them at their disposal, also with the help of Russian production.

That is why, today, Iran's logic already seems to be revealed: to saturate the enemy's defences to make this conflict less unbalanced. Even if most of the drones are intercepted, it is enough for a small percentage to get through to hit infrastructure or military installations.

In recent years, this strategy has been used in various theatres. Russia employed the Shahed in the war in Ukraine to target energy infrastructure and cities.

In the last few days, reports speak of hundreds of drones also being launched towards various targets in the Gulf.

There is also an operational aspect that makes these systems difficult to neutralise.

The Shahed do not need runways or airbases. They can be launched from truck-mounted ramps or mobile platforms. This means that the launch systems can be moved continuously, making it much more difficult to detect and destroy arsenals before attacks.

The result is that a relatively inexpensive system manages to put even very sophisticated air defences under pressure.

This is why many analysts today consider the Shahed the real strategic weapon of Iran. And this despite the fact that they are not technologically advanced drones.

The solution, however, for the US and Israel, could come from Ukraine. Kiev has had to learn to survive the Shahed (supplied by Iran to Russia) since 2022, and in fact over the years has developed interceptor drones, small operator-guided aircraft that chase enemy drones and destroy them in flight. Many of these systems are based on FPV technology, the same used in civil race drones.

Their cost is much lower: a few thousand dollars, according to various analyses cited by Reuters. And the basic idea is to counter swarms of cheap drones with equally cheap systems. Ukraine has already offered to supply these drones to the US. In exchange for a few partriots.