Ukraine Can Teach the US About the Future of Warfare

Here’s a number that should make every American wince: $4 million. That’s what it costs to fire a single Patriot interceptor missile.

Here’s another: $30,000. That’s an estimated price tag of an Iranian Shahed drone — the kind that Tehran has been lobbing across the Persian Gulf at US bases and allied cities since the start of the war four weeks ago.

In other words, we’re spending at least 100 times more to shoot down each drone than our enemies spend to build one.

And it’s not just the cost that’s a problem — it’s also our production capacity. According to the work of Foreign Policy Research Institute, US and Gulf Patriot batteries fired 943 rounds in the first 96 hours of the fighting, consuming 13% and 16% of existing stocks, respectively. Just replenishing those weapons at current production capacity will require 18 months.

That is no way to fight against Iran, much less against a larger adversary like China or Russia.