This page is the English version of Almasirah Media Network website and it focuses on delivering all leading News and developments in Yemen, the Middle East and the world. In the eara of misinformation imposed by the main stream media in the Middle East and abroad, Almasirah Media Network strives towards promoting knowledge, principle values and justice, among all societies and cultures in the world
The American magazine New Lines indicated that even if Washington is able to find cheaper alternatives, deploying and putting them into service will take time, and there is no guarantee that the development of Yemeni capabilities and weapons will not continue to reach unexpected levels.
It stating that "as the US military searches for an inexpensive alternative, it is spending hundreds of millions of dollars to combat low-cost attacks."
The report pointed out that earlier this month, the Yemeni Armed Forces sent a low-cost drone across the Mediterranean to the airspace over Tel Aviv, where it exploded at a very low altitude, resulting in the death of one person and the injury of at least 10 others.
It considered that "the damage caused by this attack on Tel Aviv reveals a side of the asymmetric war's weaknesses, specifically showing how cheap and sometimes improvised drones can penetrate advanced and costly defense systems."
It added that the US military has been engaged for nearly a year in what it described as a "long and costly" asymmetric war in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, noting that "US aircraft carriers, support ships, air wings, and other assets have expended ammunition worth millions of dollars on a daily basis, a cost that has now exceeded more than $1 billion, according to Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro."
It said that "despite the Pentagon's claims that these efforts will disrupt and weaken the enemy's capabilities, the fighting shows no signs of ending, while its cost continues to rise."
The report quoted William LaPlante, the US Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, as saying during his testimony before a Senate subcommittee last May: "If we're shooting down a $50,000 single-use drone with a $3 million missile, that's not a good cost equation."
The report attributed the US military's poor performance in dealing with Yemen to several factors, including not keeping up with the evolving nature of conflicts in recent years. It pointed out that US forces had previously focused on "countering improvised explosive devices, the threat of sudden suicide attacks, or ambushes, rather than swarms of drones or missiles."
The report also quoted James Patton Rogers, Executive Director of the Cornell Brooks Institute for Technology Policy, as saying: "The wars fought by powers after the Cold War were mostly against those who did not possess airborne offensive capabilities that posed a threat. Therefore, investment in this area became less important, and instead, the primitive improvised explosive devices were the weapon to be overcome."
The report mentioned that in December, more than a year into the war in Ukraine and two months into the fighting in the Red Sea, LaPlante stated that "the United States needs large-scale counter-drone systems." He said: "We need many of them, whatever they are—kinetic or non-kinetic."
However, according to the report, "by the summer of 2024, the military still relies on the same expensive air defense tools, including surface-to-air missiles."
The report quoted LaPlante as saying last February: "The Pentagon's budget for counter-drone efforts was largely created before the Ukraine invasion. The Pentagon needs more flexibility in managing allocations in response to evolving threats."
#Yemen #US #Israel About 3 months
This page is the English version of Almasirah Media Network website and it focuses on delivering all leading News and developments in Yemen, the Middle East and the world. In the eara of misinformation imposed by the main stream media in the Middle East and abroad, Almasirah Media Network strives towards promoting knowledge, principle values and justice, among all societies and cultures in the world
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