The Fox News Rundown Extra: The Evolution of Drone Warfare
Mar 8, 2026
Brett Velicovich, former U.S. Army Special Operations intelligence analyst and founder of drone company Power.us. He recounts how cheaper commercial tech transformed drone warfare. He explains Iran’s low-cost Shahed threat, reverse engineering captured drones, and the need for cheaper interceptors and electronic warfare. He warns about terrorist proliferation and gaps in domestic airspace defenses.
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Cost Asymmetry Favors Attackers
- Iran perfected low-cost one-way attack drones to arm proxies with limited budgets, creating unsustainable defense costs for defenders.
- Cheap $20,000 Shahed drones force defenders to expend multi-million-dollar interceptors, breaking sustainable defense economics.
Target Drone Production First
- Prioritize striking adversary production capacity early to halt mass drone manufacture rather than only targeting operational launches.
- Iran built widespread, hardened production facilities and shared schematics with proxies, enabling rapid reconstitution if unaddressed.
Inside Captured Shahed Drones
- Velicovich has been on the receiving end of Shahed attacks and inspected captured Shahed wreckage.
- He found numerous U.S. company parts inside Shaheds, highlighting supply-chain leakage into Iranian drones.