‘The AK-47 of the skies’: How Iran’s cheap drones are reshaping this war

Dubai: President Trump has made destroying Iran’s ballistic missile stockpiles a central objective of the war. But while Washington focuses on launchers and long-range rockets, Tehran has unleashed something far cheaper — and arguably more disruptive.

Drones.

Known formally as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), they are now being deployed in large numbers across the region.Since Saturday, Iran has launched up to 2,000 one-way attack drones across the Gulf region, according to military estimates cited by The New York Times.

Two struck the US Embassy compound in Riyadh. One likely killed at least six American service members in Kuwait. Others have targeted ports, oil infrastructure, hotels and diplomatic compounds.

Ballistic missiles grab headlines.

Drones are quietly changing the battlefield.

Cheap, deadly and hard to stop

Over the past decade, unmanned aerial vehicles — especially so-called “suicide” or loitering drones — have transformed modern warfare. From Ukraine to the Middle East, they have proven that cost can matter more than sophistication.

A ballistic missile may cost millions of dollars.

A Shahed drone costs between $20,000 and $50,000.

That price difference is the key.

“It is completely unsustainable to fire a million-dollar interceptor at a €30,000 drone,” one European defence analyst noted.

Iran exploits this imbalance by launching drones waves of drones, forcing advanced air-defence systems to burn through expensive interceptors.

Military experts describe the Shahed as the “AK-47 of the skies” — low-tech, rugged, easy to manufacture and deadly in mass.

In the run-up to the US-Israeli strikes, US Central Command dispersed personnel across the region to reduce vulnerability at fixed bases.

But that strategy may have created new exposure.

While US bases are heavily fortified against missile and drone attacks, temporary office spaces, ports and hotels are not.

The strike in Kuwait did not hit a major air base. It hit a location at the port of Shuaiba, where US Army personnel were operating from a temporary site. Defence officials later acknowledged the facility was not as fortified as permanent installations.

Iranian drones have also targeted hotels and civilian infrastructure across Gulf cities. Officials say most drones are intercepted — but some inevitably slip through.

Iran is not relying solely on drones. It is launching ballistic missiles and cruise missiles as well.

But analysts say drones are being used strategically to:

According to figures released by Gulf authorities earlier this week, one country faced 165 ballistic missiles and more than 500 drones in the first days of the war.

While missiles were largely intercepted, over a dozen drones struck civilian sites.

Mass matters.

And unlike ballistic missiles, Iran possesses several thousand one-way attack drones.

Iran supplied thousands of Shahed drones to Russia during the war in Ukraine. Moscow used them in nightly swarms against Ukrainian infrastructure.

Tehran watched closely.

Now it is applying similar swarm tactics across the Middle East — combining drones with missiles in layered barrages designed to overwhelm radar systems and interceptor stocks.

Defence analysts warn that prolonged drone warfare can quickly drain missile defence inventories. Patriot interceptors, which cost millions each, must be reserved for ballistic missile threats — not inexpensive drones.

As one expert put it: “Good enough precision, deployed at scale, can be decisive.”

Some analysts believe the scale of drone attacks reflects Iran’s strategic calculation.

“For Iran, this has to be the last war,” said Vali Nasr, an Iran expert, in an interview with The New York Times. “They want to make the West believe that wars with Iran will be very costly.”

Tehran has warned it has not yet deployed its most advanced wepons and is prepared for a prolonged conflict.

If that is the case, drones may only be the opening phase of a longer attrition strategy.

Missiles may decide battles.

Drones may decide endurance.

Beyond the immediate damage, analysts say Iran’s drone campaign reflects a strategy of horizontal escalation — widening the battlefield geographically to impose costs on multiple US partners at once.

By targeting embassies, ports and energy facilities across the Gulf, Tehran is signalling that any war with Iran will not remain contained.

The longer the conflict drags on, the more pressure will build on interceptor stockpiles, particularly high-end systems designed to stop ballistic missiles.

Early interception rates may appear strong, but sustaining them over weeks — or months — is far more difficult. In that sense, drones are not just weapons of impact; they are weapons of endurance.

If ballistic missiles represent shock and awe, drones represent attrition — a slow grind designed to exhaust air defences, stretch budgets and impose economic costs.

In this war, the cheapest weapon may prove the most disruptive.