US Army Seeks Lower-Cost Interceptor to Counter Iran's Cheap Drones

Thu, 07 May 2026 02:38:00 +0200

The U.S. Army is actively seeking to develop a new missile interceptor costing less than $250,000 per unit to address a critical asymmetry in modern warfare. This initiative comes as the military faces a growing challenge: expensive multi-million dollar interceptors are being used to shoot down relatively inexpensive Iranian drones, particularly the Shahed-136 model that costs approximately $35,000 to produce.

The cost imbalance has become unsustainable during recent conflicts in the Middle East. Traditional interceptors like the Patriot PAC-3 cost between $4 million and $12 million per unit, while THAAD interceptors run around $12.7 million each. During the Iran conflict, the U.S. alone expended 92 THAAD interceptors at a cost of roughly $1.17 billion, representing about 14% of its total stockpile.

Defense companies and startups are now racing to develop lower-cost alternatives using off-the-shelf components, AI-enabled targeting technologies, and scalable manufacturing methods incl