Cheap drones are reshaping the war in the sky (scrolling infographic)

3 hours ago

Cheap drones are changing warfare dynamics, making air superiority more accessible to less wealthy nations.
Iran has deployed large numbers of inexpensive Shahed-136 drones, costing between $20,000-$50,000 each, to overwhelm defenses.
The U.S. faces a cost imbalance, spending millions on interceptors like the Patriot missile ($4M each) to shoot down cheap drones.
Drones account for ~70% of Russian casualties in Ukraine, highlighting their effectiveness in modern warfare.
The U.S. is accelerating drone development (e.g., LUCAS) to counter adversaries producing millions of drones annually.
Anti-drone technologies (e.g., lasers, jammers) are emerging but remain limited in scale and deployment.
Naval defense costs are soaring, with the U.S. spending ~$1B to protect ships from Houthi drones/missiles in the Red Sea.

Hasty Briefsbeta