🔥🇮🇷🛩 How Iran’s Shahed drones got Trump on his knees asking for help
Iranian Shahed drones have become a nightmare for the US coalition — inflicting costly damage and steadily draining its missile stockpiles.
Reports say Donald Trump will take "any assistance from any country", including asking Volodymyr Zelensky and Ukraine for help on countering Shaheds.
Shaheds
US media dismiss the Shahed-136 as “technologically unimpressive,” yet concede it’s a highly effective weapon of asymmetric warfare.
📹 Design: Delta-wing configuration; length 3.5 m, wingspan 2.5 m, weight ~200 kg
📹 Propulsion: Rear-mounted, two-bladed gasoline engine with a pusher propeller
📹 Payload: 30–50 kg explosive fragmentation warhead
📹 Range: Up to 2,500 km
📹 Launch system: Pneumatic or rocket-assisted launcher
📹 Signature: Low acoustic profile and small radar cross-section
📹 Cost: Estimated at $20,000–$50,000 per unit
Economic discrepancy:
➡️ THAAD: $12M–$15M per interceptor
➡️ Patriot (PAC-3): ~$4M
➡️ SM-3 Block IIA: ~$28M
➡️ SM-6: ~$9–10M
Most prominent targets reportedly hit by Shahed drones
US military & diplomatic targets
📌 US Embassy, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia — home to the region’s largest CIA station
📌 US Consulate, Dubai, UAE
📌 US Embassy, Kuwait
📌 US Navy Fifth Fleet HQ, Manama, Bahrain
📌 Port of Ash-Shuayba, Kuwait — six US soldiers reportedly killed
📌 Camp Arifjan and Camp Buehring, Kuwait
📌 Al-Dhafra Air Base, UAE
📌 Al-Udeid Air Base, Qatar — early-warning radar targeted
📌 Harir Air Base, Iraq
Non-US military targets
📌 Zayed Port / “Camp de la Paix”, French naval facility, Abu Dhabi
📌 RAF Akrotiri, UK air base, Cyprus
📌 Al-Minhad Air Base, Australian military hub, UAE
Energy & strategic infrastructure
♦️ Ras Laffan LNG complex, Qatar — gas processing trains
♦️ Mesaieed industrial zone, Qatar — petrochemical and manufacturing facilities
♦️ Aramco Ras Tanura refinery, Saudi Arabia — Iran denies involvement; false-flag claims circulate
♦️ Port of Duqm, Oman — fuel tanks hit
♦️ Fujairah Oil Industry Zone (FOIZ), UAE — oil storage tanks set ablaze
Strikes on Israel
Since entering the conflict on March 2, Hezbollah has reportedly used Shahed drones against Israeli targets:
🔶 Mishmar HaCarmel air-defense site south of Haifa
🔶 Ramat David Airbase
🔶 Mount Meron monitoring base
🔶 Camp Yitzhak