The Shahed drone has been Iran’s most effective weapon. What to know about it.

The Shahed unmanned aerial vehicle is a car-sized kamikaze drone that costs tens of thousands of dollars and is used by Iranian forces. With a wingspan of about 8 feet, it can fly about 100 miles per hour, travelling about 1,000 miles to deliver, perhaps, a hundred pounds of explosive, capable of completely destroying a car or collapsing a small residential building.

It’s a relatively simple, yet terrifying device. “The technology is kind of Radio Shack….cheap,” says AeroDynamic Advisory managing director and aerospace consultant Richard Aboulafia.

Shahed-style drones are responsible for most of the American casualties in the current conflict. “Thousands launched, a few dozen get through,” added Aboluafia.

Losing any American lives will drive the U.S. military to push for more unmanned vehicles, says Adrian Helfert, CIO of multi-asset strategies at Westwood. “I would expect to see a whole lot more spending on autonomous battle solutions.”

To be sure, the U.S. has attack drones, including LUCAS, short for low-cost uncrewed combat attack system, which can be built by SpektreWorks, a privately held, Arizona-based aerospace startup, or other U.S. manufacturers.

The U.S. also has loitering, guided munitions, such as AeroVironment’s Switchblade, that can be used for different combat objectives.

There are publicly traded players, too. Funds at Westwood hold drone technology companies Kratos Defense & Security Solutions and AeroVironment. And most large defense contractors have unmanned vehicle programs that span land, sea, and air.

Autonomous solutions were also the driving force behind President Trump’s 2025 “Unleashing American Drone Dominance” executive order, designed to speed the production, acquaition and use of all types of drones in the U.S. military.

As for Iran, just how many Shaheds it has and how many it can build are tough questions to answer, says Vertical Research Partners analyst Rob Stallard.

Of course, Iran has manufacturing capacity, explains Capital Alpha Partners analyst Byron Callan. Russian and Chinese parts, including everything from warheads to electronics, remain key to the supply chain, enabling drone operation and lethality.

The use of drones in the Ukraine-Russia conflict and the Middle East has created the problem of ‘missile math.’ It’s expensive to shoot down a $40,000 drone with a $4 million interceptor missile.

That will also drive investment in counter-drone technology, adds Helfert. Anti-drone technologies include tracking, GPS jamming, lasers, and conventional “kinetic” projectiles.

Of course, with jamming technology comes anti-jamming technology. Warfighting is a never-ending escalation in search of technical superiority.

There is no doubt that most American weapon systems are superior to Iranian ones. Now, America’s military has to neutralize the drone threat.

Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com