The US is sounding the alarm on Iran’s drones, again. Years after the Abqaiq attack the head of US Central Command is warning about drones. Marine Corps General Kenneth McKenzie, the commander of CENTCOM, has repeatedly warned about the threat drones pose.

An Iranian drone overflew a US carrier and Iran posted photos of it. Iran did the same thing to the USS Nimitz in the past.

“For the first time since the Korean War, we are operating without complete air superiority,” he said.

McKenzie said the following: “We still have a ways to go to get on the right side of the curve [on small armed drones] because right now you can go out and buy one at Walmart or some other location, you can weaponize it very readily,” McKenzie told the committee hearing. “Sometimes it is very difficult for us to detect them until it is too late. We have a variety of systems that we’re testing now in a free market competition to find the best and most integrated capabilities. We are not there yet, and it remains a very concerning priority of mine.”

He was speaking to the House Armed Services Committee at a hearing.

In February 2021 he said something similar. “I’m not just talking about large unmanned platforms, which are the size of a conventional fighter jet that we can see and deal with by normal air defense means. I’m talking about ones you can go out and buy at Costco right now for $1,000,” he said, reported Army Times.

Read the transcript.

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