Trump administration officials have acknowledged that Iran's Shahed attack drones are a major challenge, and it is unlikely U.S. forces will be able intercept them all.
The admission was made in a closed-door briefing with lawmakers, CNN reported. Among the issues U.S. forces face is the sheer volume of drones Iran has and can manufacture.
"The Iranians do have the ability to make a lot of Shahed drones, ballistic missiles, medium range, short range and they've got a huge stockpile. So at some point ... this becomes a math problem and how can we resupply air defense munitions. Where are they going to come from?" Sen. Mark Kelly told CNN.
The risk for U.S. forces is that the volume of cheap drones could exhaust U.S. resources.
Bloomberg News reported that while U.S. Patriot missiles have been able to take out the drones with interception rates of over 90 percent, the drones cost about $20,000 each, while the missiles cost around $4 million each.
"Attrition strategy makes operational sense from Iran's perspective," Kelly Grieco, a senior fellow at the Stimson Center think-tank told Bloomberg News. "They are calculating the defenders will exhaust their interceptors and the political will of Gulf states will crack and put pressure on the US and Israel to cease operations before they run out of missiles and drones."
CNN reported that in the briefing, the administration tried to downplay concerns about munitions, telling lawmakers that Gulf state partners had been stockpiling interceptors.
The joint U.S.-Israeli strikes against Iran began on February 28. The nation's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and key leaders within the regime were killed within the first minutes of the assault. Regardless, Iran has fought back launching numerous missiles and drones targeting oil and gas infrastructure of neighboring countries. They also have attempted to disrupt the supply chain, attacking ships, ports, and announcing that ships attempting to navigate the Strait of Hormuz would be attacked.
The regime also has lashed out at U.S. bases in the region. As of 4 p.m., March 2, U.S. Central Command reported that six U.S. service members had been killed since the military operation began.
Originally published on IBTimes
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