Ukraine's experience priceless as Iran war sees long-range strike drones go global [View all]

https://kyivindependent.com/ukraines-experience-priceless-as-iran-war-sees-long-range-strike-drones-go-global/
Lots more at link
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Hours after the first U.S. and Israeli strikes began hitting the country on Feb. 28, Tehran — despite its leadership being decapitated on the first day of the fighting — retaliated with large-scale missile and drone attacks across the region, with a focus on U.S. military bases and embassies.

On top of its arsenal of ballistic missiles, Iran's weapon of choice is one that is all too familiar to Ukraine: the Shahed-type drone.

First used against Ukrainian cities and infrastructure in late 2022, the Iranian designed long-range suicide drone quickly became one of Moscow's most well-known weapons of war, terrorizing cities, demolishing infrastructure, and hammering important targets on the front line.

While the cost and production demands of ballistic and cruise missiles have placed an upper limit on Moscow's use of them, the same doesn't apply for the Shahed-type drones, with some mass overnight attacks often seeing upwards of 500 launched at once.

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Only Ukraine's military has anything like the experience of facing this new threat, and amid the explosion of war in and around Iran, Kyiv's unique abilities gained immediate recognition on the world stage.