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Aaron Brynildson, Law Instructor, University of Mississippi

Why the US military is stuck using $1 million missiles against Iran’s $20,000 drones

A drone is seen during a suspected drone strike targeting an oil warehouse near Erbil, the capital of Iraq's Kurdistan Region, on April 1, 2026. Gailan Haji/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

It may sound hard to believe, but the almost trillion-dollar U.S. military is struggling to fight cheap drones in its war with Iran.

Iran has built a simple drone, the Shahed, with a motorcycle-type engine, loaded it with explosives and successfully targeted its neighbors’ cities and power plants.

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