A more significant challenge than expected. In front of American parliamentarians gathered in Congress on Tuesday, officials from the Trump administration explained that the Shahed drones used by Iran since the beginning of the war in the Middle East posed a major challenge to the United States.
According to CNN, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Dan Caine acknowledged during this closed-door meeting that the drones posed a bigger problem than anticipated for defense systems.
These cheap disposable drones, also known as “kamikazes,” have the unique ability to fly low and slow, making them more difficult to detect than ballistic missiles.
The United States may not be able to intercept all those targeting their military installations in the Gulf countries. However, officials emphasized that they had interceptor stocks.
The issue of stock
Facing this threat, the American strategy is to target the launch sites of drones and missiles to limit the salvos. According to an American official, the Iranian strategy aims to force the United States to use their most sophisticated interceptors, such as the Patriot and Thaad systems.
This meeting in Congress comes as the conflict with Iran escalates, raising fears of a global energy crisis. On Tuesday, President Donald Trump stated that most Iranian military installations had been neutralized. But some lawmakers are concerned about the rate of weapons and ammunition consumption.
For Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville (Alabama), the American military operation could last between three and five weeks, in line with what Donald Trump had already stated. Conversely, the end date seems “more vague” to Republican Senator Josh Hawley (Missouri). A similar view from Democrat Hakeem Jeffries, of the House of Representatives, who believes the operation could last longer.
At a press briefing on Wednesday, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt sought to reassure. She explained that the United States had enough weapons to carry out a prolonged war against Iran. “We have weapons stocks in places many people in the world are unaware of,” she said.
