Iran's Drone Doctrine Tests the West

Tehran's mass-drone strategy is being copied.

Tehran's mass-drone strategy is being copied. The West's counter-drone investment has not kept pace.

WSJ Editorial Board · WSJ Opinion · Editorial · April 23, 2026

Cheap offense, expensive defense

The Editorial Board lays out the asymmetry: a single Iranian Shahed-class drone costs roughly $20,000 to build; a Patriot interceptor costs roughly $4 million. The economics favor the attacker by orders of magnitude, and Western air defense doctrine has not yet adapted.

Counter-drone is now its own theme

The investable response is the counter-drone complex: directed-energy systems, low-cost interceptors, drone-on-drone systems, electronic warfare. Public-market exposure runs through AVAV, KTOS, and elements of the Defense primes (RTX, LMT, NOC). We are increasing our position in AVAV and KTOS today as a stand-alone counter-drone sleeve, separate from the broader Defense overweight.

Bottom line: this is the year's clearest new thematic. We are buying.

What This Means For Your Book

ADD AVAV and KTOS to portfolios as the new Counter-Drone sleeve (~3% of Defense). Separate sleeve from major Defense primes.

Asymmetric warfare creates asymmetric capex. Counter-drone is a multi-year build, not a one-quarter trade.

Want to talk through how this affects your plan?

A 15-minute review — an update on positioning.

Schedule a Call