Why the US Still Isn’t Ready for the New Era of Drone Warfare

[rangerrebew]

Why the US Still Isn’t Ready for the New Era of Drone Warfare
August 4, 2026
By: Ramon Marks
 
US military dominance has always depended on technological innovation. It’s no longer clear that this condition holds.
After mixed results in Iraq and an unsuccessful 20-year campaign to keep the Taliban from taking power in Afghanistan, the US military faces frustrations again, now in the Strait of Hormuz with Iran. This time the challenge is not asymmetric IEDs and guerrilla-style warfare, but high-tech, precision-guided drone and missile systems that have revolutionized modern combat. So far, US air and naval power have been unable to keep the Strait of Hormuz decisively open in the face of such weapons. 

The fact that the US military has problems with Iranian drones and missiles should come as no surprise. In 2024, the United States launched an air and naval campaign to suppress Houthi drone and missile attacks on shipping passing through the Strait of Bab El-Mandeb. A truce was obtained after months of fighting involving as many as two US carrier battle groups.



freestar
However, the strategic result achieved by US forces was not decisive. Commercial transit never bounced back. Red Sea shipping declined by as much as 50 percent compared with 2023, before Houthi attacks began. Commercial carriers remained cautious about the safety of moving their vessels through the Red Sea. Insurance premiums soared. That reluctance looks even more justified today as the Houthis, at the urging of Iran, have now resumed attacking ships trading with Israel.

The Houthis’ campaign foreshadowed the challenges now faced against Iran. The fight for control of the Strait of Hormuz has so far gone no better. If the United States cannot ultimately suppress Iranian drone and missile attacks on Persian Gulf shipping, the negative consequences will be significant. It will further confirm that middle and small powers can, armed with drones and proliferating conventional missiles, challenge the United States. The US fleet’s long-accepted ability to keep open strategic maritime passageways will no longer be a safe assumption, with negative consequences for the South China Sea and the Strait of Malacca. The Pentagon clearly lacks critical fighting capabilities for dealing with modern drone and missile warfare.

https://nationalinterest.org/feature/why-the-us-still-isnt-ready-for-the-new-era-of-drone-warfare

[rangerrebew]

Maybe they can contract with Mexican drug cartels to bring them up to snuff.

[DefiantMassRINO]

They wasted all their resources on the flying Edsel, the F-35, and on the Navy's latest spruce goose, the Littoral Combat Ship (aka LCS, Little Crappy Ship).  They chose poorly.  They spent poorly.  The opportunity cost is now we are behind in drone warfare.

How are Defense Contractors, the Pentagon, and Politicians create a multi-billion dollar, multi-year, multi-Administration procurement program to skim profits for themselves on technology that can be replicated by 3-D printing?  There's no big bag of money, nor the justification for one.

Complexity = $$$
Simplicity = 

[BobfromWB]

Why the US Still Isn’t Ready for the New Era of Drone Warfare
August 4, 2026
By: Ramon Marks
 
US military dominance has always depended on technological innovation. It’s no longer clear that this condition holds.
After mixed results in Iraq and an unsuccessful 20-year campaign to keep the Taliban from taking power in Afghanistan, the US military faces frustrations again, now in the Strait of Hormuz with Iran. This time the challenge is not asymmetric IEDs and guerrilla-style warfare, but high-tech, precision-guided drone and missile systems that have revolutionized modern combat. So far, US air and naval power have been unable to keep the Strait of Hormuz decisively open in the face of such weapons. 

The fact that the US military has problems with Iranian drones and missiles should come as no surprise. In 2024, the United States launched an air and naval campaign to suppress Houthi drone and missile attacks on shipping passing through the Strait of Bab El-Mandeb. A truce was obtained after months of fighting involving as many as two US carrier battle groups.



freestar
However, the strategic result achieved by US forces was not decisive. Commercial transit never bounced back. Red Sea shipping declined by as much as 50 percent compared with 2023, before Houthi attacks began. Commercial carriers remained cautious about the safety of moving their vessels through the Red Sea. Insurance premiums soared. That reluctance looks even more justified today as the Houthis, at the urging of Iran, have now resumed attacking ships trading with Israel.

The Houthis’ campaign foreshadowed the challenges now faced against Iran. The fight for control of the Strait of Hormuz has so far gone no better. If the United States cannot ultimately suppress Iranian drone and missile attacks on Persian Gulf shipping, the negative consequences will be significant. It will further confirm that middle and small powers can, armed with drones and proliferating conventional missiles, challenge the United States. The US fleet’s long-accepted ability to keep open strategic maritime passageways will no longer be a safe assumption, with negative consequences for the South China Sea and the Strait of Malacca. The Pentagon clearly lacks critical fighting capabilities for dealing with modern drone and missile warfare.

https://nationalinterest.org/feature/why-the-us-still-isnt-ready-for-the-new-era-of-drone-warfare

Both taking the Strait and ending the nuclear threat will take US combat troops - locals will need years of training and battle experience to just barely qualify as marginally adequate to the tasks.