US and allied forces are using fighter jets to shoot down Iran’s low-cost drones, but experts warn the approach is costly, risky, and unsustainable, according to Thomas Novelly of DefenseOne.
Expensive missiles and high-end aircraft are often used against cheap unmanned systems, creating a steep cost imbalance while also posing operational challenges in crowded airspace.
As drone warfare reshapes the battlefield, the US is increasingly looking to Ukraine’s experience for more effective and affordable counter-drone tactics, while also shifting toward targeting drone production and launch sites. Novelly writes:
US and allied militaries have turned to fighter jets in their struggle to ward off Iran’s cheap, plentiful drones, but former pilots say the mission is expensive, dangerous, and, ultimately, unsustainable with current tactics. […]
The U.S. is now seeking advice, guidance, and support from Ukraine’s military on how to counter enemy drones based on what it has learned during its four-year war with Russia. […]
In recent years, to reduce the cost of expensive munitions used on one-way attack drones, the Air Force outfitted fourth-generation U.S. fighter jets such as the F-15E and F-16s with a more affordable missile. The Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System II, or APKWS, is a precision-guided rocket with a cost ranging anywhere from nearly $25,000 to $40,000, according to a 2025 report for the Center for a New American Security. […]
Ukraine has offered its knowledge and proven technology in the past. The country reportedly tried to sell the U.S. its counter-drone systems last year during a White House presentation, warning that Iran had been building on the design of its one-way attack drones. […]
“I think it’s too little, too late,” Dan Hampton, a former F-16 Wild Weasel piolt said. “Again, if there’s one defining characteristic of the administration in Washington, it’s arrogance. They’re going to do it their way, no matter what, and they’ve only belatedly realized that maybe, in this case, they should have asked people that have apparently been doing this for years and years and years.”
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