U.S. and Iran Deploy Kamikaze Drones to Prepare for Prolonged Conflict [Yang Nakgyu's Defence Club]

U.S. Kamikaze Drones Reverse-Engineered from Iranian Models

Cost-Effective Attacks Aim to Draw Out Attrition... Preparation for Prolonged Conflict

The war in Ukraine has led to the analysis that drones have become a key weapon in modern warfare. The United States deployed so-called "kamikaze drones," also known as one-way attack drones, for the first time in combat, and with Iran also using drones for retaliation, drone warfare is expected to intensify.

On the 2nd (local time), the Iranian Revolutionary Guard revealed underground weapon storage tunnels through state media footage, showing drones lined up in rows, presumed to be Shahed 136. In the video, in addition to the drones, the Iranian military displayed a large quantity of missiles and other capabilities to sustain long-term combat against the United States. Photo by CNN broadcast capture

According to foreign media reports on March 3, the United States reportedly used so-called "kamikaze drones," or one-way attack drones, to carry out airstrikes against Iran. This marks the first time that such drones, which directly collide with their targets during combat, have been deployed in an actual operation.

The U.S. military unit utilizing kamikaze drones is Task Force Scorpion Strike (TFSS), which was deployed to the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) in December of last year. CENTCOM stated on social media, "Low-cost drones modeled after Iran's Shahed drones are now delivering 'American-made' retribution." CENTCOM further explained, "This Iranian attack marks the first case in which the U.S. Department of Defense has used one-way attack drones in real combat," adding, "Deployment in actual operations took place just three months after the first field test."

The kamikaze drone currently used by the U.S. military, known as the Lucas drone, was reverse-engineered by the American company SpektreWorks after disassembling the Iranian-made Shahed-136 drone. Each drone costs $35,000 (about 50 million won), making it much less expensive than the MQ-9 Reaper drone, which costs about $30 million (approximately 4.3 billion won) per unit. Depending on the mission, this drone can be equipped with reconnaissance sensors, explosives, electronic warfare devices, and other payloads. The U.S. military began deploying kamikaze drones after the Russia-Ukraine war began. At that time, Russian forces actively used Iranian-made drones in their tactics, which shifted the dynamics of the war and led to a growing recognition that mass deployment of inexpensive drones can be effective in modern warfare tactics.

The Shahed-136 drone used by Iran has a triangular fuselage with wings spanning 2.5 to 3 meters and is powered by a piston engine. Its flight range reaches up to 2,500 kilometers. According to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Iran has sent 541 drones to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), 283 to Kuwait, 145 to Bahrain, and several dozen each to Qatar and Jordan, and has also attacked civilian infrastructure.

The WSJ analyzed, "Iran is saturating Gulf countries' air defense systems by launching large numbers of drones or by launching mixed salvos of drones and missiles." From Iran's perspective, the strategy may be to force the opponent to use much more expensive interceptor missiles against multiple cheap drones. This is similar to Russia's repeated use of Shahed-series drones to attack Ukraine's energy facilities and ports, disrupting power supply and logistics systems.

The reason both the United States and Iran are using drones is their cost-effectiveness (performance relative to price). Although their destructive power is relatively low, by persistently attacking various locations in the Middle East with inexpensive weapons-like a "drizzle"-they aim to drag the United States and Israel into a war of attrition, preparing for a prolonged conflict. According to Israeli military estimates, Iran used more than 500 missiles during the "12-Day War" in June of last year, about 90% of which were intercepted. It is currently estimated that Iran has about 2,500 missiles in its inventory.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.