80,000 drones and attacks on 17 countries… Iran launches game-changing weapon in the war

New Delhi: On the second day of the war, Iran has wreaked havoc from Saudi Arabia to Kuwait. First, Iran destroyed several US F-15 jets flying from a Kuwait base. A video of one of the jets is rapidly going viral. Following this, Tehran attacked Saudi oil installations. In this attack, Iran targeted Saudi Arabia’s Tanura refinery, which is where Aramco operates.

Iran also attacked countries like Turkey and Qatar. Interestingly, Iran destroyed all these targets using drones. On Monday, Iran attacked a total of 17 countries or their targets with drones. According to the Wall Street Journal, Iran carried out approximately 1,000 drone attacks on the first day of the war. The highest number of drone attacks, 200, were carried out on Dubai. On the second day, Iran followed the Dubai pattern with drone attacks on Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, thus inflicting greater damage at a lower cost.

Iran has the world’s most dangerous drone.
Iran has the world’s most dangerous attack drone, named Shahed-136. This drone has also caused havoc in Ukraine. Now Iran is using it to attack American bases in the Middle East. Iran has a total of 80 thousand drones. Iran has a total of 12 types of drones for intelligence gathering, attack and carrying weapons, but the most dangerous is the Shahed drone. Its Shahed 131 and Shahed 136 can attack anyone.

The Shahed-136 drone is capable of flying for several hours. It can attack up to 2,000 km. Its speed is 200 km per hour. Before launching an attack, the drone is loaded with explosives. The drone detonates upon impact. The cost of each drone ranges from 1.8 to 2 million rupees. Iran aims to produce 25,000 drones annually. Iran manufactures these drones with Russian assistance. In January of this year, Iran produced 1,000 Shahed-136 drones.

Question: Why is Iran attacking with drones?
1. According to Rose Kelanic, director of the Middle East Program of the American think tank Defense Priority, Iran’s attempt is to first target American bases using low-cost ammunition, which will cause maximum damage at a low cost. This time, Iran is trapping America as a strategy. Its attempt is to prolong the war. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a post – We have been working for 20 years to defeat America. We know how to defeat America in the Middle East. Iran knows that America cannot remain in the war for long.

2. Iran has a limited stockpile of missiles. It currently possesses approximately 2,000 missiles. Russia is embroiled in a war, making it unlikely that it will receive any assistance from Russia. Therefore, Iran wants to preserve its missiles so that they can be used in the future.

3. Drones are low cost. An Iranian drone costs up to 1.8 million rupees, and it can easily shoot down US fighter jets costing up to 818 crore rupees. Iran wants to send the message to the world that even its low-cost weapons are quite dangerous. This use by Iran is likely to increase tension for the US.