Since February 28, when the United States and Israel opened hostilities with Operation Epic Fury, Iran has chosen an asymmetric and tenacious response: thousands of Shahed-136 drones, true low-cost “kamikaze” devices that are seriously challenging the most expensive and sophisticated air defenses on the planet.
This is not a secret or futuristic weapon, but a simple, cheap, mass-produced device that, launched in continuous waves, forces Washington and its allies to burn through precious stocks of interceptors costing millions of dollars each.
The buzzing of the Shahed has become the soundtrack of the war in the Middle East: a constant reminder that, in 2026, technological superiority is no longer enough unless accompanied by overwhelming numbers and sustainable costs.
Tehran understood this before many others, and the facts on the ground are proving it every day.
Simple production
The Shahed drones do not require high-tech factories or assembly lines protected by bunkers.
As Bloomberg reports, they essentially consist of a lightweight fiberglass body, a small aircraft engine, commercially available electronic components, and a homemade explosive payload.
They can be assembled in peripheral warehouses, mechanical workshops, or even shipyards that repair fast boats.
American and Israeli attacks have destroyed some main sites, but the supply chain has simply fragmented: smaller, more mobile, more resilient.
A European official cited by Bloomberg explains that the bombings have created logistical disorder but have not completely stopped production.
Iran has learned from Russia, which since 2022 has been producing identical versions (the Geran-2) at impressive rates and has shared practical tips with Tehran: anti-jamming antennas, navigation systems more resistant to electronic interference, small modifications that make the drone even harder to neutralize, as highlighted by the Council on Foreign Relations.
What makes the Shahed-136 special
The Shahed-136 is a three-and-a-half-meter triangle that flies low, slow, and noisy, with a drone reminiscent of an old garden lawnmower. Yet that noise is becoming synonymous with threat.
The Shahed-136 carries between 30 and 50 kg of explosives, enough to breach a hangar, break through a radar, or ignite a fuel depot.
The declared range reaches 2,000 kilometers (some sources, like Stacie Petty John of the Center for a New American Security cited by the New York Times, speak of at least 1,930 km), sufficient to cover almost the entire Middle East from secure Iranian bases.
It is launched from the back of a pickup truck, hidden in any warehouse, and does not return: it is a one-way munition, designed to crash and detonate.
The guidance is rudimentary but precise: “it hits what it has been assigned, unless intercepted,” writes the Council on Foreign Relations.
It is no surprise that the United States has made an improved copy: the LUCAS, deployed precisely against Iran, was born from the study of a captured Shahed, as Foreign Affairs recounts.
The arsenal
Exact figures remain secret, but the numbers already released are impressive.
Bloomberg talks about over 2,100 Shahed launched since the start of the conflict; the New York Times cites more than 2,000; just against the United Arab Emirates, 689 were launched in the very first days, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.
Before the war, Iran had accumulated thousands, and unlike ballistic missiles – of which it possessed about 2,500 and has already used 700 – the drones do not depend on fixed launchers, silos, or vulnerable bases. They can continue to come out of workshops for weeks, perhaps months.
Russia, which purchased the Iranian technology, demonstrates that it is possible to produce hundreds of units per day; Tehran is not far from that level.
As Foreign Affairs observes, this is the heart of the new war era: “for technologically limited actors, low-cost war has become possible, scalable, and repeatable.”
Economic advantage
A single Shahed costs between $20,000 and $50,000, depending on the configuration.
This figure is to be compared with that of a $4 million Patriot PAC-3 interceptor, or even a $126,500 Coyote. The gap is enormous.
Kelly Grieco of the Stimson Center, interviewed by NBC News, calculated that for every dollar spent by Iran, the Emirates burn between 20 and 28 just to shoot down one drone.
The Council on Foreign Relations speaks of a cost ratio that can reach 5-100 times in favor of the attacker. It is pure math: Iran can launch continuous waves without seriously impacting its finances, while the US, Israel, and Gulf allies are consuming missile stocks at unsustainable rates that take years to replenish.
The Americans have already fired 400 Tomahawks just to counter drones and missiles, spending $800 million in a few days – an amount that would be enough to produce 23,000 LUCAS, as Foreign Affairs recalls.
Effectiveness
Despite 80% of drones being shot down – a figure coming from Ukrainian experience and confirmed by the Council on Foreign Relations – the 20% that get through are causing concrete and growing damage.
Examples have hit the headquarters of the Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, destroyed a rare early warning radar in Qatar, damaged the radar of a THAAD system in Jordan, struck the American embassy in Saudi Arabia, and caused the death of at least six US soldiers in a single attack, as Bloomberg reports. Others have stopped refineries in the Emirates for days, disrupted strategic energy infrastructure, and created a permanent climate of tension.
Iran’s goal is not to destroy everything with a single blow, but to wear down: absorb extremely expensive interceptors, force opponents to redistribute resources from other hot zones (even from the Indo-Pacific), drive up oil prices, and increase political pressure on Washington and Tel Aviv.
As the New York Times writes, “it’s a math problem”: defenses run out before the drones do. And as long as Iran can maintain this pace, the war of attrition will continue to play in its favor.
