US air defences cannot be relied on to stop every Shahed drone – CNN

US officials have warned that Iranian-made Shahed-type drones pose a serious challenge and that existing air defences cannot be relied on to intercept every one of them.

Source: CNN citing two anonymous sources familiar with a closed-door briefing by Trump administration officials, as reported by European Pravda

Details: The officials were briefing lawmakers in the Congress on the ongoing operation against Iran when they said Shahed-type drones present a serious problem and existing US air defences cannot be relied on to intercept every drone.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine said Iranian Shahed-type drones have proved a bigger problem than initially expected because they fly "low and slow" and can evade air defences better than ballistic missiles.

One of the sources said officials sought to downplay concerns by noting that US partners in the Gulf have stocks of interceptor missiles.

The sources also said officials did not clearly answer how the Trump administration plans to prevent Iran becoming a failed state. They reiterated the operation's objectives set out by Trump: degrading Iran's missile capability, halting its nuclear ambitions, destroying its navy and ending its funding of a number of armed groups across the region.

Background:

• The US has announced the closure of its embassies in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait after both came under Iranian drone attacks, most likely by Shahed-type UAVs.
• Iranian drones also struck a British airbase in Cyprus after which a number of allies sent additional forces to provide cover for the island.

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