Ukrainian troops say their hard-won lessons on Iranian Shaheds apply far beyond their war at home

"When long-range drones are flying at you, don't shoot them down with $3 million PAC-3s from Patriots. Through trial and error, Ukraine developed low-cost defenses to counter Russia's Geran drones, copies of Iran's Shahed drones. Ukrainians involved in defending their country and Western analysts say other countries facing these threats need to be doing the same."

"A 122nd Brigade sergeant with Ukraine's Territorial Defense Forces said that Ukrainian soldiers were sure the US had some secret weapon, some foolproof shield for stopping Shaheds. They were expecting to see it in action when this new war began. Instead, what they saw were viral video clips of an Iranian delta-wing drone sailing past defenses and slamming into a US Navy base in Bahrain, causing serious damage."

"On Wednesday, CNN reported, citing an unnamed source who attended a closed-door briefing, that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the top general, Dan Caine, told congressional leaders that Shaheds pose a greater challenge for the US and allies than initially expected."

Ukrainian military units have developed cost-effective defensive strategies against Iranian Shahed drones through years of combat experience against Russian copies. Ukrainian commanders criticize the US approach of using multimillion-dollar PAC-3 interceptors against inexpensive one-way attack drones, viewing it as wasteful. Ukrainian soldiers initially believed the US possessed superior defensive capabilities but were surprised to see Iranian drones penetrate American defenses at a naval base in Bahrain. Pentagon officials reportedly acknowledged that Shahed drones pose greater challenges than anticipated. Ukrainian military experts and Western analysts emphasize that other nations facing these threats should adopt low-cost defensive solutions developed through Ukrainian combat experience.

Read at Business Insider