Iran drone swarms test limits of missile-based defenses
· UPIMarch 19 (Asia Today) -- Iran's expanding use of low-cost drones and missile systems is exposing vulnerabilities in traditional air defense strategies, raising concerns for navies including South Korea's, analysts said Thursday.
The evolving threat centers on so-called "swarm attacks," in which large numbers of inexpensive drones are deployed simultaneously to overwhelm defenses designed for high-value targets.
Iran's Shahed-136 suicide drone is estimated to cost about $20,000 per unit, while interceptor missiles such as SM-2 or South Korea's Cheongung-II can cost millions of dollars each.
Analysts warn that such cost asymmetry could deplete defensive missile stockpiles before more advanced threats, such as ballistic missiles, are launched.
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Reports from the Middle East indicate that more than 1,600 drones have been detected in some areas, highlighting the scale of the challenge. Defense experts say this raises the risk that naval vessels could exhaust their interceptors while countering drone swarms.
Close-in weapon systems, including the Phalanx CIWS, face additional limitations. Designed primarily to intercept high-speed anti-ship missiles, these systems may struggle to track and engage numerous low-speed drones approaching from multiple directions.
Low-altitude flight profiles further complicate detection, and even successful interceptions near ships can cause damage from debris or explosions.
South Korea's Cheongung-II system has demonstrated strong performance in missile interception scenarios, but experts caution that missile-centric air defense architectures are not optimized for large-scale drone attrition tactics.
Security analysts also note that South Korea's overseas naval deployments, including anti-piracy missions, have focused more on conventional threats than on complex, multi-layered drone and missile attacks.
The shift toward cost-driven warfare has prompted changes in U.S. strategy. During recent operations, the U.S. military deployed the LUCAS, a low-cost attack drone reportedly developed through reverse engineering of Iranian designs.
The move reflects a broader shift toward "cost parity" tactics - countering inexpensive drones with similarly low-cost systems rather than relying solely on high-end interceptors.
Experts say future defense strategies will need to prioritize not only interception accuracy but also cost efficiency and the ability to engage multiple threats simultaneously. Emerging solutions include laser-based air defense systems and drone-on-drone interception technologies.
They warn that without such adaptations, traditional missile-based defenses could face increasing strain in modern conflicts defined by volume and resource depletion rather than technological superiority alone.
-- Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI
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Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260319010005897