Fighter jets are downing Iranian drones—a dangerous, expensive mission

U.S. and allied militaries have turned to fighter jets in their struggle to ward off Iran’s cheap, plentiful drones, but former pilots say the mission is expensive, dangerous, and, ultimately, unsustainable with current tactics.

Open-source intelligence accounts and news outlets have posted videos of high-powered fighter jets downing Iran’s low-cost unmanned aircraft since the war began late last month. On Tuesday, Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, confirmed that U.S. and allied forces had conducted “intercepts against one-way attack drones using fighters and attack helicopters,” and said it was one reason that Iran’s use of the drones had “decreased 83 percent since the beginning of the operation.”

Last week, a Royal Air Force F-35 pilot shot down a drone that had evaded air defenses over Jordan. One former British military officer called it “using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.” 

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