IF you can build a drone for $35,000 and defeat technology worth millions like the Iran Shahed drones can, then you have the new Kalashnikov Rifle of the air.
The reason I say Kalashnikov rifle is because you can pour sand down the barrel of a Kalashnikov and it will still shoot well. These $35,000 drones can fly 1000 miles and still hit a target (and they have a wooden propeller too. Very strange new weapon of war. It changes everything sort of like 9-11 what happened then. That's why even California is vulnerable to a cargo ship launching from 900 miles off the coast of California. The same likely would be true of the East Coast or Hawaii or Alaska too. Very strange times we now live in.
begin partial quote from previous article from NBC NEWS:
The videos, posted on various online platforms, reveal a pattern of inadequate protection for strategic locations targeted by the drones from the outset of the war. As the U.S. and Israel bombard Iran with the stated goal of crippling its nuclear, ballistic and drone capabilities, Iran retaliates by utilizing its arsenal of missiles and cheap exploding drones.
The drones are a novel challenge for the U.S., its allies and the countries caught in the crossfire. Adversaries will be watching America’s response closely.
The weapon’s versatility may allow Iran to prolong the war by straining enemy resources, a tactic attractive for cash-strapped states, experts say. Iran is a pioneer of the technology, which it sold to Russia following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. It has challenged the economics of warfare. While the U.S. remains firm in its air dominance, Iran’s drone campaign has forced the targeted countries to use expensive munitions for interceptions.
“It’s kind of like the ultimate symbol of asymmetric warfare,” said Joe Dyke, director of programmes for Airwars, a nonprofit that tracks civilian harm in conflict zones.
