Iran is waging a massive drone campaign in the Middle East, unleashing waves of cheap one-way attack drones, known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), on Western-linked targets to “impose exponential costs on the US”, a defense expert has warned.
As Tehran has reportedly launched thousands Shahed drones across the region and Iranian state media shared images of underground stockpiles, said Cameron Chell, CEO of drone maker and technology company DragonflyAccording to the Iranian government, Iran’s strategy is to use advanced defense systems to counter low-cost aerial threats.
An Israeli firefighter works to extinguish a fire in Tel Aviv after Iran launched missiles into Israel on Saturday. (Tomer Appelbaum/Reuters)
“Iran can sow terror in unimaginable ways and impose exponential costs on the US side because it has to target these small, very difficult-to-detect drone units,” he added.
Chell’s warning comes at a time of high tensions following joint US-Israeli attacks on Iran, targeting nuclear sites, missile facilities and leadership, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several commanders.
The Iranian drones have proven deadly after killing six American soldiers in an attack on a tactical center in Kuwait earlier this week.
A CIA station at the US embassy in the Saudi capital Riyadh was hit by an Iranian drone strike on Tuesday, causing a limited fire, but no injuries were reported.
An example of an Iranian one-way Shahed-class drone used by the regime to attack US and Israeli locations in the Middle East. (Getty Images)
In Bahrain, drones reportedly identified as Iranian Shahed models crashed on the upper floors of the Era View Tower in Manama, about a mile from a US naval base.
An Iranian drone also struck a parking lot outside the US consulate in Dubai, while the United Arab Emirates said it had intercepted Iranian missile and drone attacks on the country.
“Based on the engine noise, apparent angle of attack and implied speed, to my knowledge this was a one-way Shahed-class drone,” Chell said of the attack video from the Dubai consulate before suggesting the drone footage showed “a Shahed 191.”
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A large fire and plume of smoke are visible after authorities say debris from an Iranian intercepted drone struck the Fujairah oil factory in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, on Tuesday. (Altaf Qadri/AP Photo)
Fars News Agency has also released images claiming to show dozens of attack drones stored in massive underground tunnels in Iran.
The video appeared to show rows of triangular drones on rocket launchers, missiles in a row, four on a launch vehicle and walls decorated with Iranian flags and photos of Khamenei. Outlets noted that the timing and location of the video have not been verified.
“It is difficult to confirm that Iran now has the capability to produce these wartime drones in these volumes,” Chell said of the stored images.
“To the extent that they produced them in those numbers, a more than significant portion would have been destined for delivery to Russia – which does not seem impossible. That said, the drones in the underground propaganda video are Shahed 191 drones.”
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Images from Iran’s state-affiliated FARS News Agency reportedly show rows of drones stored underground. (FARS news agency Telegram)
A new report from the Also Carnegie Endowment for International Peace underlined Chell’s comments about cost and reach.
“Iran is currently using a combination of ballistic missiles and attack drones,” said senior colleague Dara Massicot. “The methods are effective, but targeting drones in this way is labor-intensive and expensive, and it will quickly clear certain types of interceptors.”
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“Ground-based interceptor missiles for air defense are not infinite, and the United States and its partners and allies have faced stockpile challenges in this area for years,” she added.
Another senior fellow, Steve Feldstein, added: “A key point is that the world is entering a new era of drone warfare, as unmanned aircraft proliferate on the battlefield in conflicts large and small.”
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