As the United States waged a war of attrition against Iran, countering cheap suicide drones with interceptor missiles 300 times more expensive, public opinion unfavorable to the war spread within the U.S. Although the U.S. military's Patriot boasts a high hit rate, concerns grew that America's ability to sustain warfare would inevitably weaken as costly interceptors are rapidly depleted in defending against low-cost drones.
U.S. media outlets noted that if the situation of firing interceptor missiles worth up to $4 million (about 6.2 billion won) to shoot down drones costing $20,000 (about 31 million won) becomes prolonged, it eats into key resources needed to prepare for far more complex threats, trapping the country in a dilemma of "cost asymmetry."
The United States and its allies in the Middle East rely entirely on Lockheed Martin's Patriot air defense system (PAC-3). Lockheed Martin's annual PAC-3 production last year was about 600 units. The problem is that after this war, thousands of interceptor missiles have already been fired in the Middle East, dropping PAC-3 stockpiles in the region to dangerous levels. Iran is known to be able to produce about 400 Shahed-series drones per day.
Following Ukraine, the Middle East war has repeatedly proven how threatening cheap long-range suicide drones can be, leading military powers to actively pursue the development of cost-effective drones capable of intercepting cheap drones.
As low-cost drones emerge as a headache in modern warfare, news that European aircraft manufacturer Airbus has developed a small drone called "Bird of Prey" — a jet-engine-powered air defense solution capable of intercepting enemy drones over a wide range — has drawn worldwide attention.
The drone interception method previously used by Ukraine involves launching interceptor drones from the ground positioned along the flight path of long-range suicide drones detected by radar and other means. While rated as optimized for intercepting low-cost drones, it has been criticized for being neutralized when enemy drones are fast or change their flight paths.
To address these shortcomings, the concept of a drone that intercepts from the sky began to be developed. The "Bird of Prey" is drawing attention as the drone that best addresses these weaknesses. Its interception method involves carrying missiles like a fighter jet and using those missiles to intercept enemy drones. It can essentially be regarded as an unmanned combat aircraft.
In appearance, it resembles the crude form of a military target drone used for shooting practice and does not look like a cutting-edge weapons system. In fact, it can reuse the proven, old-fashioned catapult (hydraulic and spring-type rail launcher) infrastructure that military training target drones (Do-DT25) have used for the past several decades, employing it as a launcher or ground control equipment.
The publicly disclosed prototype-stage "Bird of Prey" was built based on Airbus's Do-DT25 drone. Its specifications include an overall length of 3.10 m, a wingspan of 2.50 m, and a maximum takeoff weight of 160 kg, making for a compact fuselage. Equipped with small twin jet engines, it reaches a top speed of 550 km/h and a range of 110 km.
Above all, in cooperation with Estonian defense startup Frankenburg Technologies, it can carry up to eight ultralight missiles called "Mark 1," each weighing less than 2 kg. The Mark 1 is a small guided missile of about 60 to 65 cm with a range of about 1.5 to 2 km, making it suitable for short-range engagement. However, it has a drawback: the shock waves and gas flames generated when the guided missile ignites and launches, along with vortices entering the jet engine intake, can be a fatal factor capable of destroying the aircraft in mid-air.
The "Bird of Prey" platform adopts a method in which, after shooting down an enemy drone, the fuselage returns near the base, deploys a parachute, and lands safely. Once the aircraft is recovered, it can be redeployed immediately after the missiles are reloaded. It also offers economic efficiency, with only the missile cost consumed and the "platform cost" being zero. This is why it is rated as the optimal drone for defending against low-cost drone attacks.
Although its appearance is an old-fashioned analog model, it carries powerful eight small guided missiles and is equipped with an artificial intelligence (AI)-based autonomous detection system, earning it an evaluation as a cost-effective, cutting-edge drone that can find and most reliably destroy the enemy's cheap drones. However, at about $50,000 (about 78 million won) per unit, it is somewhat more expensive than the Shahed-136 drone. Of course, it is far cheaper than portable surface-to-air missiles such as the "Stinger."
