Aaron Brynildson

A drone is seen during a suspected drone strike targeting an oil warehouse near Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, on April 1, 2026. Gailan Haji/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

Why the US military is stuck using $1 million missiles against Iran’s $20,000 drones

Bureaucratic hurdles mean the US military typically has to wait a decade between the time it sees a new threat and the employment of a new system to defend against it.

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