- Category
- Latest news
US Warns Lawmakers Air Defenses Cannot Stop Every Iranian Shahed Drone
- Authors
![Photo of Roman Kohanets]( "Photo of Roman Kohanets")
-111f0e5095e02c02446ffed57bfb0ab1.jpeg "Photo of Roman Kohanets")
Trump administration officials warned lawmakers that US air defenses cannot intercept every Iranian Shahed drone, according to CNN on March 4.
The warning came in a closed-door briefing on Capitol Hill on March 3. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman General Dan Caine led the session.
Two briefing sources told CNN the Shaheds are posing a bigger problem than anticipated.
We bring you stories from the ground. Your support keeps our team in the field.
Officials said the drones fly low and slow, which can help them evade air defenses. A source in the briefing said the US will not be able to intercept them all.
Another source familiar with the briefing said officials tried to downplay the risk and pointed to Gulf partners’ interceptor stockpiles.
Democrats grow increasingly uneasy about the volume of munitions used in the conflict and what it could mean for US defenses in the region and beyond.
US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that most of Iran’s military installations had been “knocked out.”
The US officials reiterated Trump’s stated goals, including destroying Iran’s missile capabilities and navy and ending its nuclear ambitions.
Lawmakers left with differing views on how long fighting could last. Republican Senator Josh Hawley said it sounded “open-ended.”
Senator Mark Kelly, a Democrat from Arizona who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, warned that “we do not have an unlimited supply.”
“The Iranians do have the ability to make a lot of Shahed drones, ballistic missiles, medium range, short range, and they’ve got a huge stockpile,” Kelly said.
“So at some point … this becomes a math problem, and how can we resupply air defense munitions. Where are they going to come from?”
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine has developed the world’s most extensive experience countering Iranian-designed Shahed drones.
He explained that this experience is shaping Ukraine’s air-defense tactics, electronic warfare, and interception methods as attacks evolve in scale, routes, and timing.
Ukraine is applying these lessons with partners to strengthen shared defenses against Shahed-type threats and improve protection of cities, energy sites, and critical infrastructure.
-29ed98e0f248ee005bb84bfbf7f30adf.jpg)
