Just over three months of conflict in the Gulf has underscored the growing importance of mass-produced, low-cost weapons systems, particularly drones and munitions, and exposed the limitations of relying on expensive defensive technologies to counter them, according Nathan Diller, an executive at the defense tech firm Mach Industries.
Diller, who is also a retired US Air Force colonel, told RFE/RL in an interview late on June 8 The conflict has reinforced the urgency for allied nations to strengthen military-industrial supply chains and build greater manufacturing resilience, Diller added, drawing parallels with lessons emerging from Russia's war in Ukraine.
"When we look at low-cost drones and low-cost munitions being countered by very expensive things, this is a lesson we can't learn fast enough," Diller, who served as assistant director of Aeronautics in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy during US President Donald Trump’s first term, said.
As a former fighter pilot, Diller said traditional military capabilities remain essential -- but newer technologies could have reduced the cost and duration of the Iran-Israel conflict while establishing deterrence more quickly.
