A super drone. Or at least a drone specialized in hunting more than a thousand state-of-the-art unmanned aircraft. This is the ‘secret’ weapon that the US is using in Iran to hit one of the strengths of the ayatollah regime, its drones.
According to sources from the US Department of Defense, the national Army has begun to deploy a special system made in USA that has already ‘hunted’ more than 1,000 ‘Shahed’ in Ukrainewhere Russia uses countless of these units of Iranian origin.
It is one of the essential pieces of the system known as Meropswhich will begin to operate fully over the Iranian skies and surrounding areas in a few days. Once the Army finalizes the details, it will be a matter of days or hours before it becomes operational.
Although the knowledgeable sources cited by Business Insider They declined to indicate how many Merops systems the US is sending to the region In their offensive against Iran, they have announced that their deployment will include a large number of drone interceptor units.
It is not only a resource that has already proven its functionality, but it represents a severe blow to Iran’s coffers with a much lower cost for the US.
Los interceptors employees within the Merops system move in about $15,000 per unit (just under 13,000 euros), really low figures when it comes to military strategy… especially when compared to the very expensive surface-to-air missiles.
But not only are they more ‘affordable’ than missiles, but they reduce unit costs by about half, or even more, when contrasted with the up to $50,000 (43,000 euros) that can cost Iranian-made and used Shahed drones.
It is interceptor is called Surveyor and is part of the Merops system. It works propelled by a propeller and relies on artificial intelligence as an ‘help’ to fly over complex environments.
Given its limited size, it can be carried by a soldier and, once in the air, it can reach a top speed of 280 kilometers per hour, a pace at which it can chase conventional propeller-driven Shaheds.
Business Insider adds that if the Surveyor, who may include a small explosive warheaddoes not reach its target, it can deploy a parachute to allow recovery and relaunch on another occasion.
