Ukraine shows how to defeat Iranian drones

Published March 3, 2026 1:47pm ET



Iranian drones and missiles have been slamming into cities across the Middle East for three days. Gulf states with some of the best air defense arsenals are discovering the difficulty in dealing with cheap, slow drones arriving in waves. A single THAAD anti-ballistic missile interceptor costs $13 million. The Shahed drone costs roughly $20,000.

Ukraine has learned this lesson over four years of daily combat. Oleksandr Kamyshin, Ukraine’s Minister of Industry, explained it to me:

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