During its war with the US and Israel, Iran forced the US to confront the rise of cheap, commercial-grade drones and the limits of its appetite for retaliatory attacks.
According to a report by The New York Times, while an Iranian Shahed-136 drone costs roughly $35,000 to produce, the high-tech military interceptors used to down them cost millions, exploiting a critical gap in American defence investments.
In the first six days alone, the US spent $11.3 billion on the conflict.
Estimates from the American Enterprise Institute suggest the total cost reached between $25 billion and $35 billion by early April, with interceptors driving the bulk of the expenditure.
The high cost of low-tech threats
In an ideal scenario, early warning aircraft detect a drone hundreds of miles out, allowing an F-16 to dispatch it using Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) II rockets.
While these air patrols are cost-efficient, the vast scope of the conflict limited their availability.
Furthermore, Iran targeted the very early warning aircraft the US relies on for long-range detection.
To counter drones at shorter ranges, the US utilises the Coyote system, which can intercept targets up to nine miles away.
Despite being effective and relatively cheap, the US military procured few Coyotes in recent years.
A Navy destroyer’s Aegis Combat System uses Standard Missile 2 (SM-2) interceptors to down drones, but military protocol requires firing at least two missiles per target.