Inside the Pentagon’s Failure to Shield U.S. Troops From Iranian Drones
Months before the war in Iran, U.S. Army officers called for the deployment of cheap Ukrainian interceptors to the Middle East. The Pentagon ignored them.
A drone, resembling an arrowhead, plummeted to the ground on March 1, 2025, during the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran. This drone, a Shahed variant, exploded upon impact, killing six American service members and injuring over two dozen more at a Kuwaiti logistics center. The Pentagon, aware of Ukraine's effective technology for countering such drones, repeatedly urged the deployment of this technology to Middle Eastern commanders.
However, these warnings were ignored, citing the Pentagon's claim of having the world's best defensive capabilities. The officers involved in the warning process, fearing retaliation, remain anonymous. The U.S. military did eventually deploy Ukrainian interceptors to Europe in December 2025, but it was too late to prevent the attack in Kuwait.
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