- The U.S. military has sustained significant losses of expensive Reaper drones, valued at over $1 billion, during surveillance and attack missions over Iran.
- The Pentagon aims to shift toward deploying large numbers of cheaper drones to overwhelm enemy air defenses, accepting that many will be lost in combat, as current high-cost aircraft are deemed unsustainable against low-cost adversary defenses.
- Ukraine’s military serves as a model, using hundreds of inexpensive drones and missiles to overwhelm Russian air defenses and strike behind frontlines, damaging sophisticated systems.
- In contrast, U.S. operations since February 2026 have relied on expensive crewed aircraft and drones, leading to costly losses and necessitating pilot rescues in hostile areas like Iran and the Strait of Hormuz.
- For high-risk missions, MQ-9A Reaper drones have been used to gather intelligence and strike targets deep in Iranian airspace, praised as a key asset in the war against Iran.