How Iran is wasting American resources

伊朗是如何浪费美国资源的

The Indicator from Planet Money

2026-03-19

8 分钟
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Iran is using an affordable strategy to even the playing field in the war with the U.S. It’s using drones that cost in the thousands of dollars to combat American missiles that cost several million. Military analysts have already signaled concern about the U.S. producing enough munitions, and this isn’t helping. Today on the show, why the U.S. spends so much on munitions and what it’s learning from Iran.  Come see Planet Money live on stage in April! 12 cities. Details and tix here: https://tix.to/pm-book-tour.  Related episodes: Are we overpaying for military equipment?Can Just-In-Time handle a new era of war? A trucker, a farmer, and an entrepreneur walk into a global supply shock Are we overpaying for military equipment? For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.   To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below: See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
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  • NPR.

  • The US and Israel war with Iran has exposed a fascinating economic imbalance.

  • The US has been launching big multi-million dollar missiles at Iranian targets.

  • Iran has fired back with wave upon wave of inexpensive drones, costing only thousands of dollars.

  • And these drones don't look anything like your hobby drone that you might use to take photos on a hike.

  • In the language of the military, the word drone basically means an unmanned aircraft.

  • Iran's Shahad 136s are typical of these low-cost drones.

  • Picture a short missile with wide wings and a propeller at the end.

  • It's about the size of a go-kart and buzzes like a moped scooter.

  • It uses GPS to find a target and fly into it, blowing it up.

  • Jerry McGinn is an expert on military supply,

  • and he says this wave of drones is a deliberate strategy by Iran.

  • They launch a lot of drones to try to have the U.S.

  • kind of use their more exquisite weapons to knock them down and deplete our stores.

  • Last year, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was already concerned about the pace of the U.S. producing new munitions.

  • This asymmetry in battlefield spending risks worsening the weapon supply further.