伊朗正在中东发动大规模无人机战役，向与西方有关联的目标发动一波又一波低成本、单程攻击无人机（也称为无人驾驶飞行器，UAV），以对美国施加”指数级成本”，一名国防专家警告称。
据报道，德黑兰已在该地区发射了数千架”见证者”（Shahed）无人机，伊朗国家媒体还公布了地下储备的视频。无人机制造商和科技公司Draganfly的首席执行官卡梅伦·切尔（Cameron Chell）表示，伊朗的战略旨在迫使高端防御系统应对廉价空中威胁。
“即使是一百架这样的无人机落到一个分散的部队手中，也能给邻国带来前所未有的恐慌，”切尔告诉福克斯新闻数字版。”伊朗人无法用这些无人机赢得战争，但就像越南战争中的越共一样，他们拥有非对称能力，可以延长战争并施加政治压力。”
“伊朗可以用难以想象的方式制造恐慌，并给美国方面带来指数级的成本，因为美国必须针对这些小型、极难探测的无人机部队，”他补充道。
切尔发出警告之际，在周六美国和以色列联合袭击伊朗核设施、导弹基地和领导层，造成最高领袖阿亚图拉·阿里·哈梅内伊和几名指挥官死亡后，局势急剧升级。
这些伊朗无人机已被证明致命，本周早些时候在科威特的一个战术中心袭击中造成六名美国军人死亡。
周二，美国驻沙特首都利雅得大使馆的一个中情局工作站遭到伊朗无人机袭击，引发有限火灾，但没有人员伤亡报告。
据报道，在巴林，被确认为伊朗”见证者”型号的无人机撞向麦纳麦的Era View Tower高层，距离美国海军基地约一英里。
一架伊朗无人机还袭击了迪拜美国领事馆外的停车场，而阿联酋表示拦截了针对该国的伊朗导弹和无人机袭击。
“根据引擎声音、明显的攻击角度和暗示的速度，据我所知，这是一架’见证者’级单程攻击无人机，”切尔在谈到迪拜领事馆袭击视频时表示，同时指出无人机视频显示的是”见证者191″型号。
特朗普称伊朗’发射平台耗尽’，政权’正在被摧毁’
法尔斯通讯社还发布了视频，声称显示伊朗庞大地下隧道中储备了大量攻击无人机。
视频似乎显示成排的三角形无人机安装在火箭发射装置上，导弹排列整齐，每辆发射车配备四枚导弹，墙壁上装饰着伊朗国旗和哈梅内伊的照片。媒体指出，视频的时间和地点仍未得到证实。
“就我所知，很难确认伊朗现在有能力在战时生产如此数量的无人机，”切尔在谈到储备视频时表示。
“如果他们真的在以这些数量生产，那么很大一部分肯定会运往俄罗斯——这似乎并非不可能。也就是说，地下宣传视频中的无人机是’见证者191’无人机。”
伊朗’头号目标’遭1000万美元精确打击，美军自杀式无人机用于’压制’
美国卡内基国际和平基金会的一份新报告也强调了切尔关于成本和射程的评论。
高级研究员达拉·马西科特（Dara Massicot）表示：”目前，伊朗正在混合使用弹道导弹和攻击无人机。这些方法很有效，但以这种方式拦截无人机需要大量资源，成本高昂，并且会迅速耗尽某些类型的拦截器。”
“地面防空拦截导弹不是无限的，美国及其合作伙伴和盟友多年来在这方面一直面临库存挑战，”她补充道。
另一位高级研究员史蒂夫·费尔德斯坦（Steve Feldstein）补充道：”一个重要点是，随着无人飞机在主要冲突和小型冲突的战场上大量涌现，世界正进入无人机战争的新时代。”
艾玛·布西（Emma Bussey）是福克斯新闻数字版的突发新闻记者。加入福克斯之前，她曾在《每日电讯报》美国夜间团队工作，涵盖外交、政治、新闻、体育和文化等多个领域。
Iran is waging a mass drone campaign across the Middle East, unleashing waves of low-cost, one-way attack drones also known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), against Western-linked targets to impose “exponential cost on the U.S.,” a defense expert has warned.
As Tehran reportedly launched thousands of Shahed drones across the region and Iranian state media shared footage of underground stockpiles, Cameron Chell, CEO of drone maker and tech company Draganfly, said Iran’s strategy is designed to force high-end defenses to counter cheap aerial threats.
“Even a hundred of these drones in the hands of a decentralized unit can cause terror in a neighboring state like never before imagined,” Chell told Fox News Digital. “The Iranians cannot win the war with these drones, but like the communist Viet Cong during the Vietnam War, they have an asymmetric capability that can prolong this war and create political pressure.”
“Iran can drive terror in unimaginable ways and drive exponential costs on the U.S. side, having to target these small, very hard-to-detect drone units,” he added.
Chell’s warning comes as tensions spiraled following Saturday’s joint U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran targeting nuclear sites, missile facilities and leadership that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several commanders.
The Iranian drones have proved deadly, having killed six U.S. service members in an attack on a tactical center in Kuwait earlier this week.
A CIA station in the U.S. Embassy in the Saudi capital of Riyadh was struck in an Iranian drone attack Tuesday, causing a limited fire but no reported injuries.
In Bahrain, drones reportedly identified as Iranian Shahed models smashed into the upper floors of the Era View Tower in Manama, about one mile from a U.S. Navy base.
An Iranian drone also struck a parking lot outside the U.S. Consulate in Dubai, while the United Arab Emirates said it intercepted Iranian missiles and drone attacks targeting the country.
“Based on the engine sound, the apparent attack angle and the implied speed, to the best of my knowledge, this was a Shahed-class one-way attack drone,” Chell said of the Dubai consulate attack video before suggesting the drone footage showed “a Shahed 191.”
TRUMP SAYS IRAN IS ‘RUNNING OUT OF LAUNCHERS’ AS REGIME IS ‘BEING DECIMATED’
Fars News Agency also released footage purporting to show scores of attack drones stockpiled in vast underground tunnels in Iran.
The video appeared to show rows of triangular-shaped drones on rocket launchers, missiles lined up, four to a launcher vehicle and walls adorned with Iranian flags and photographs of Khamenei. Outlets noted that the video’s timing and location remain unverified.
“It is hard to confirm that Iran has the capability now to produce these drones in these volumes during wartime,” Chell said of the stockpiling footage.
“To the extent they were producing these in those numbers, a more-than-significant portion would have been for delivery to Russia — which does not seem impossible. That said, the drones in the underground propaganda video are Shahed 191 drones.”
IRAN ‘TOP TARGET’ HIT IN $10M PRECISION STRIKE, US KAMIKAZE DRONES USED TO ‘OVERWHELM’
A new report from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace also underscored Chell’s comments on expense and range.
“Right now, Iran is using a mixture of ballistic missiles and attack drones,” said senior fellow Dara Massicot. “The methods are effective, but targeting drones in this way is resource-intensive and expensive, and it will drain certain types of interceptors quickly.”
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
“Ground-based air defense interceptor missiles are not infinite, and the United States and its partners and allies have had stockpile challenges in this area for years,” she added.
Another senior fellow, Steve Feldstein, added, “An important point is that the world is entering a new age of drone war as unmanned aircraft are proliferating on the battlefield in major conflicts and smaller ones.”
Emma Bussey is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital. Before joining Fox, she worked at The Telegraph with the U.S. overnight team, across desks including foreign, politics, news, sport and culture.