Ukraine, which had no selection however to be taught quick, ultimately discovered a greater reply. Ukraine developed low cost interceptor drones that would slam into Shahed drones earlier than they reached their targets. Every interceptor prices about US$1,000 to US$2,000, and Ukrainian producers are producing hundreds of them per 30 days. That’s higher math: a US$2,000 interceptor in opposition to a US$20,000 attacker.
Ukraine’s battlefield expertise, because of this, has turn out to be one of the invaluable assets on the planet, with American and allied forces asking Ukrainian drone consultants to share their data.
Why can’t the US churn out an answer of its personal? As a result of the US navy doesn’t have a know-how downside however a paperwork downside.
THE PENTAGON’S THREE-LEGGED SLOWDOWN
The US Division of Protection sometimes can’t simply purchase issues. It follows an extended, difficult course of that may take a decade or extra to go from “we want one thing” to “right here it’s”. That course of runs by three separate bureaucratic programs, every of which might trigger years of delay.
First, somebody should write a proper doc, often known as a requirement, that explains precisely what they want and why. A navy service, such because the Air Power, for instance, drafts up a requirement and routes it by an inner service overview inside solely their department.
Till lately, this service-vetted requirement went by a Pentagon overview course of, the Joint Capabilities Integration and Growth System, the place all joint providers took a glance. This course of, which the Division of Protection resulted in 2025, required approval from navy officers.
Despite the fact that the joint necessities course of was ended, implementation of a brand new system is way from full, and the present tradition probably stays. Beneath the previous necessities course of, it took over 800 days to get a requirement authorized.
