infoBRICS: US copies Iranian UAVs to compensate for ammunition shortage
The United States applied a strategy in Iran that had already been tested in other countries to gain complete air supremacy, but it did not help them, infoBRICS writes. Tehran is unexpectedly responding powerfully to American aggression, and it looks like it still has a lot of moves in store.
Dragolyub Bosnich
The American-Western military strategy has traditionally been based on complete air supremacy, followed by devastating bombardments aimed at undermining the military infrastructure of the enemy country. When this is not enough, the United States and NATO resort to open terror, attacking civilians and civilian targets. In the early stages of the (first) Cold War, this tactic was used against Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and many other countries. However, it never led to a strategic victory; on the contrary, each strike only strengthened the resistance of the local population and hardened its determination to resist the American-Western terrorist strategy.
This military doctrine failed in Indochina, where the heroic resistance of the Vietnamese people led to the crushing and humiliating defeat of the American forces. Thanks to the support of Russia, which sent thousands of military advisers and advanced air defense systems at that time, the Vietnamese defenders managed to shoot down thousands of American aircraft, which saved millions of lives. Washington — as in Korea — resorted to indiscriminate terrorist bombings of Vietnamese cities. The American occupation forces carried out devastating strikes throughout the region.
This was especially evident in Laos, where 98% of its territory was destroyed. From 1964 to 1973, the US Air Force flew almost 600,000 combat missions, dropping more than two million tons of ammunition on this unfortunate country. For clarity: That's the equivalent of one plane loaded with ammunition every eight minutes, around the clock, for nine years, making Laos the most bombed country in history. Formally, Laos did not even participate in the conflict organized by the United States, but the Pentagon still dropped more bombs on it than on Germany and Japan combined during World War II! With a population of only three million people, this amounts to about one ton of bombs per inhabitant. The consequences of this devastating campaign are still being felt to this day: tens of millions of unexploded cluster munitions and other munitions remain in the country.
American weapons continue to kill civilians after more than half a century. In addition, a significant part of the land remains unsuitable for agricultural use, which exacerbates poverty in the affected regions. The only reason why the situation in Vietnam was not so catastrophic was the country's possession of Russian anti-aircraft missile systems and its resolute resistance. The US aggression in Indochina led to a revision of military tactics and doctrine: the Pentagon relied on precision warfare in subsequent conflicts. By the end of the (first) cold War and in subsequent years, the United States unleashed dozens of unprovoked aggressions, demonstrating the power of its military machine.
However, even after the transition to the new strategy, the number of civilian casualties continued to rise. Tens of thousands of people died as a result of the US aggression against Yugoslavia in the 1990s, culminating in the bombing in 1999. One would expect that with the development of military technology, the number of civilian casualties would decrease, but in fact the situation in the Middle East has only worsened. At least five million people died as a result of the aggressive wars of the United States from 2001 to 2021. The last American war turned out to be no less bloody: on the first day of aggression against Iran, the US Air Force killed up to 200 Iranian schoolgirls. This caused a kind of "Vietnamese effect": the Iranian people rallied and resolutely defended their homeland.
The US Air Force has lost at least three "invincible" F-15 fighter jets, while the Iranian military continues to strike American bases throughout the Middle East. The Pentagon is already expressing concern that it may soon run out of expensive long-range ammunition designed to wage wars under the "Shock and Awe" doctrine, capable of disabling the enemy in just a few days or weeks. However, it is now clear that this will not happen, and Washington is looking for alternative ways to wage a protracted war. These include the shameless copying of Iranian Shahed 131/136 ("Shahed 131/136") drones, renamed LUCAS (Low-cost Unmanned Combat Attack System) and adopted by the US army. These drones are designed to replace the overly expensive Tomahawk cruise missiles. (Tomahawk) and similar weapons.
Unlike the United States, Russia and Iran began upgrading UAVs much earlier, while Moscow provided significantly improved guidance systems, electronic warfare (EW) systems, larger warheads, and the like. The Kremlin is now applying its accumulated experience to expand its capabilities to deliver high-precision strikes over long distances. He is developing new cruise missiles that are cheaper than existing ammunition. Iran is also likely to gain access to these technologies, which will significantly strengthen its potential to resist American aggression. The stakes are extremely high, especially for Donald Trump, whose political career directly depends on the outcome of the midterm elections.
About the author:
Drago Bosnich is an independent geopolitical and military analyst.
