The United States has deployed 10,000 interceptor drones across the Middle East to counter Iranian drone attacks, according to US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll. Reports indicate that the drones were sent to the region within five days of the Israel-US war beginning on February 28.

US officials stated that the drones are being used as a cost-effective method to intercept incoming threats, reducing reliance on expensive missile defense systems. Driscoll noted that each Merops interceptor currently costs between 14,000 and 15,000 dollars.

The report added that the Merops interceptor is roughly twice as expensive as Iran’s Shahed-136 drone, which Iranian analyst Esfandiar Batmanghelidj estimated to cost about 7,000 dollars. The information was sourced from Al Jazeera.