Cheap drones transform global battlefield

Iran's mass deployment of cheap Shahed drones, costing $20,000-$50,000 each, has forced the U.S. and allies to respond with interceptor missiles costing millions of dollars apiece. In the first week of the current Iran war, Tehran fired nearly 2,000 drones at U.S. bases and allied targets across 12 countries, killing six U.S. service members when one drone struck an operations center in Kuwait on March 1. The drone attacks have fundamentally shifted military power dynamics, allowing smaller nations and proxy groups to inflict costly damage on superpowers without traditional military advantages. Ukraine, which has fought Russian versions of these drones for four years, is now training U.S. forces in the Gulf after the Trump administration initially rejected Ukrainian anti-drone technology offers. The Pentagon reports Iranian drone attacks are now down 95% from their peak following the deployment of 10,000 U.S. Merops interceptor drones and Ukrainian expertise.