Cheap drones versus expensive interceptors. What are Iran, the United States and Israel fighting over?

The US-Israeli conflict with Iran began with mutual rocket attacks, but gradually moved into a different stage. Tehran is systematically launching drone strikes against targets in Israel and the Persian Gulf countries, counting on the depletion of expensive air defense systems. In response, the US has also begun using disposable drones for strikes against Iran. What weapons are used in the operation in the Middle East — in the Izvestia article.

Iran's military capabilities

• The 12-day war with Israel in 2025 significantly devastated Iran's missile arsenal. Before that conflict, it had about 3,000 cruise and ballistic missiles, but hundreds of them were either launched towards Israel or destroyed by it on the ground. It is assumed that since that time, Iran has been trying hard to compensate for losses and brought the number of missiles to 2.5 thousand. However, a significant proportion of them are short-range missiles that are not capable of reaching Israel (the distance between the capitals is about 1.5 thousand km).

• Nevertheless, their arsenal has now proved to be in demand. Iran expanded the affected area and began to strike at the countries of the Persian Gulf, which are located within 500 km. The Shahab 1 and 2, Fateh-110, Fateh-313, and Quds-1 missiles were used for this purpose. A limited supply of medium-range missiles like the Khorramshahr, Kheibarshekan, Emad and Qadr is used against Israel. A new word was the use of the superheavy Sejjil solid-fuel rocket, which was only a promising development last year, and the Fattah 2 hypersonic missile.

• Nevertheless, the current military campaign is characterized by a relatively low use of missiles by Iran. Using the example of the UAE, it can be noted that if on the first day of the conflict Iran launched over 130 missiles at them, then the next day there were only 28 of them. In all subsequent days, the UAE Ministry of Defense noted that less than 20 missiles were sent in their direction. One of the reasons may be the insufficient number of rockets to launch them in the same intensive mode as it was in June 2025.

However, this may also be due to a change in Iran's tactics, which is primarily to use drones to hit air defense systems and radars in the Persian Gulf countries, as well as to deplete the air defense systems of the American armed forces. It is assumed that after this Iran will have the opportunity to use its existing stock of missiles more effectively.

• Tehran is really actively using Shahed drones, without reducing their number day by day. They proved to be particularly in demand when attacking targets closest to Iran. If their effectiveness against Israel was extremely low due to the considerable distance, then the countries of the Persian Gulf began to fall under their attack more often. At the same time, Iran has the ability to direct drones from different directions, which makes defense more difficult. They flew to Israel on the same trajectory.

• A new word from Iran may be the use of missiles that are launched from underwater. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claims that these shells will be used in the coming days. Although they are relatively slow and can only reach speeds of up to 100 m/s (twice as fast as most cruise missiles), it will be much more difficult to determine the time and place of launch, which will provide a surprise factor.

US Military capabilities

• On the part of the United States, Tomahawk missiles have become the main means of destruction in Iran. They have a range of up to 1,600 km and are launched from destroyers in the Arabian Sea, making them capable of covering the entire territory of the Islamic Republic. Tomahawks cause significant damage to Iran's military infrastructure, but their number is very limited. It is planned that for the whole of 2026, the United States will purchase only 57 new missiles, which is completely out of line with the scale of the current conflict.

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• The United States also used the new PrSM ballistic missile against Iran, showing its launch from a wheeled launcher, which is usually used for the HIMARS multiple launch rocket system and ATACMS missiles. The PrSM has a range of up to 500 km, and its further development involves doubling the range and the possibility of launching from surface ships. Its advantage is also that the launcher containers contain two such missiles each. The conflict with Iran could bring PrSM to the forefront of its class and replace ATACMS.

• Another American innovation was the use of LUCAS disposable drones, similar in characteristics and purpose to Shahed drones. Their advantage is cheapness (the letter L in the name means "inexpensive"), the cost of producing such a device is $ 35 thousand, while one Tomahawk rocket costs $ 1.6 million. In addition to LUCAS, the United States also uses the already well-known MQ-9 Reaper drones.

• The United States has a significant advantage over Iran in the air. They deployed all their advanced aircraft, including B-2 bombers, which circled from the United States and dropped bunker buster bombs on fortified underground missile bases. Fighter aircraft included F-35 and F/A-18 aircraft capable of striking both flying and ground targets. In addition to them, a wide range of aircraft are used that perform the functions of reconnaissance, patrol, refueling, electronic warfare, relay, radar detection and control.

• The weak point of the United States has become air defense and missile defense. The Patriot and THAAD installations, which are also actively used by the Persian Gulf countries, turned out to be too expensive to intercept Iran's drones. They are used primarily against Iranian missiles, leaving the issue of drone protection unresolved. The United States does not have a full-fledged network of interceptor drones that could protect its ships and military bases, not to mention its allies in the Middle East. Washington is trying to solve the problem by transferring missiles for Patriot and THAAD from South Korea, but this will not avoid a severe shortage of interceptors if the conflict drags on, and Iran retains the capabilities to create new missiles and drones.

Israel's military capabilities

• Israel mainly relies on its own air defense systems, although it also has American THAAD installations. They are also owned by Jordan, through whose territory missiles from Iran pass. However, the main focus in air defense is on the David's Sling system, designed to repel medium-range ballistic missiles. Its Arrow 2 and Arrow 3 interceptors hit missiles both in the atmosphere and above it. The well-known Iron Dome system is aimed at repelling artillery and short-range missiles, but their danger to Israel is not so relevant during the current conflict. At the same time, with massive strikes or when using medium— or long-range missiles, the Iron Dome cannot cope, since in the first case the system does not have time to intercept all targets, and in the second, missile defense of a different level is required.

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• The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claims that the percentage of Iranian missiles intercepted is comparable to last year's figures. However, as in the case of the United States, the effectiveness of Israeli air defense depends entirely on the available stock of interceptors. Although Iran has sent some shells to the Persian Gulf countries in the current conflict, Israel continues to feel attacks, including from cluster-launched missiles, which have a wide range of damage.

• At the same time, the IDF acknowledged that the Iron Ray laser system is not being used to repel Iran's current attacks. In the past, there have been reports from the military that such an installation has been put on combat duty and even participated in repelling drones from Lebanon. However, Israel now continues to rely on traditional air defense systems, despite the growing danger of depletion of stocks.