Iran’s Shahed “kamikaze” drones, which can cost as little as US$20,000–50,000 each, are swarming U.S. and allied defences and forcing them to fire interceptors priced in the millions, turning the Iran war into a brutal contest of industrial stamina rather than high-tech wizardry. Defence estimates suggest Iran can churn out thousands of Shaheds a year, while systems like THAAD fire interceptors worth roughly US$12–15 million per shot and produce only about 96 missiles annually, meaning every wave of cheap drones and ballistic missiles drains a finite, slow-to-rebuild shield. The 12‑day Iran drone‑missile blitz in 2025, in which Tehran launched around 1,000 drones and hundreds of ballistic missiles, exposed how these massed salvos can strain U.S. and allied stocks, especially as Iranian strikes on key radar hubs in Jordan, the UAE and Qatar aim to blind billion‑dollar early‑warning systems and tilt the long war of attrition in Tehran’s favour. Watch for more
