How Much of Its Missile and Drone Capability Has Iran Used So Far?

WANA (Mar 25) – Assessing how much of Iran’s missile and drone arsenal has actually been used has become a key point of interest for military analysts. In this context, military affairs expert Nima Akbarkhani argues that what has been seen so far on the battlefield represents only a limited portion of Iran’s real capabilities.

According to him, contrary to some assumptions, the task of targeting U.S. bases in regional countries has not been assigned to the IRGC Aerospace Force. Instead, he says, such missions are mainly carried out by the Army’s Air Force and Navy, as well as the IRGC Navy.

Referring to the sheer scale of Iran’s arsenal, Akbarkhani notes that the number of missiles in Iran’s possession is so large that providing an accurate estimate is practically impossible. He adds that the figures commonly cited in Western media are mostly limited to long-range missiles and do not account for Iran’s short-range and regional missile inventory.

The military analyst also points to Iran’s drone capabilities, saying that around 3,000 drones have been deployed since the start of the conflict. According to him, that figure reflects only part of the country’s production and operational capacity. Some unofficial estimates also suggest that Iran’s daily production capability for loitering munitions (suicide drones) is extremely high, allowing the country to replace used equipment within a relatively short time.

Akbarkhani further stresses that the strikes carried out against U.S. bases in the region should be seen merely as an “initial phase” rather than the peak of Iran’s operational power. In his view, these actions have been more in the nature of preparatory steps, and if the conflict expands, both the scale and intensity of operations could increase significantly.

Overall, these remarks suggest that, in the view of some analysts, what has unfolded on the ground so far reflects only a fraction of Iran’s active military capacity, and that future scenarios could reveal much broader dimensions of its missile and drone capabilities.

Iran’s “Hadid-110” Suicide Drone. Social media/ WANA News Agency