Iranian drones pose a credible and growing threat to U.S. naval forces in the Middle East, according to a leading defense expert, as Washington increases its military presence amid unrest inside Iran and mounting regional instability.
Cameron Chell, CEO and co-founder of Draganfly, warned that Iran’s expanding use of low-cost unmanned systems creates a serious asymmetric danger for high-value targets such as the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group. “Iran’s drone capabilities are worth well into the tens of millions of dollars,” Chell said. He explained that by pairing inexpensive warheads with remotely piloted aircraft, Iran has developed “an effective asymmetric threat against highly sophisticated military systems.”
Chell said Iranian drones could be deployed in large numbers, overwhelming traditional naval defenses through saturation attacks. “If hundreds are launched in a short period of time, some are almost certain to get through,” he said. He added that U.S. surface vessels operating near Iran remain prime targets because modern defense systems were not originally designed to counter mass drone assaults.
A senior U.S. official confirmed that the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier group has not yet entered U.S. Central Command’s area of responsibility. “It is close, but technically not in CENTCOM yet,” the source said. U.S. officials have deployed additional F-15 fighter jets and C-17 aircraft carrying heavy equipment as part of a broader military buildup.
Chell emphasized that uncertainty remains over the carrier group’s ability to manage coordinated drone formations. “These drones give Iran a very credible way to threaten surface vessels,” he said, noting that U.S. assets are “large, slow-moving and easily identifiable on radar.”
President Trump addressed the deployment on Jan. 21, stating, “We have a big flotilla going in that direction, and we’ll see what happens.”
