Iran’s drones have reshaped warfare. Can the US catch up?

How did heavily sanctioned Iran create a drone so cheap, deadly and effective that everyone from Russia to the US has copied it?

From the Gulf being inundated with attacks by Iranian Shaheds to Ukraine finding innovative new ways to counter the Russian version, Tehran has mass-produced a strategic weapon that has challenged traditional Western air-defence thinking. 

To look at how Iran did it, what makes the Shahed so brutal and how to counter it, guest host from the Ukraine: the Latest team Sophie O’Sullivan speaks to Mykola Bielieskov, research fellow at the Kyiv-based National Institute for Strategic Studies, and Peter Lee, co-Director of the Centre for Defence, Risk and Resilience at Britain’s University of Portsmouth.

Plus, Sophie covers the latest major updates from the region, including Hezbollah’s rejection of the Israel-Lebanon deal as “Satan’s dream” and news of a secret deployment of elite Israeli military units to Azerbaijan. 

Highlights

• Iran’s cheap but deadly drones have reshaped warfare. Can the US catch up?
• Why everyone from Russia to the US are copying the Shahed

CONTRIBUTORS:

Sophie O’Sullivan, guest host and producer Ukraine: the Latest

Mykola Bielieskov, research fellow at National Institute for Strategic Studies @MBielieskov

Peter Lee, professor at the University of Portsmouth

Producer: Phil Atkins

Executive Producers: Venetia Rainey & Louisa Wells

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