October 25, 2025, 3:02 pm
A senior U.S. Army officer has publicly endorsed the service’s need for Shahed-136–style long-range, expendable drones.
Asked by Howard Altman of The War Zone whether the Army required Shahed-like systems, Maj. Gen. James “Jay” Bartholomees, commanding general of the Hawaii-based 25th Infantry Division, replied bluntly at the AUSA symposium: “Absolutely. We are behind on long-range sensing and long-range launched-effect strike.”
Bartholomees confirmed that the United States Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM), which oversees military operations across the Indo-Pacific, is closely studying the lessons emerging from the war in Ukraine.
He isn’t the first commander to voice this view.
Earlier, Army Lt. Gen. Charles Costanza, commander of V Corps, had also acknowledged the need, saying, when asked if the U.S. military required a capability similar to the Iranian-designed Shahed-136, “I think we do.”
In this video, Defense Updates analyzes why US military wants Iranian Shahed-136 type drone?
#defenseupdates #shahed136 #usmilitary
Chapters:
0:00 TITLE
00:11 INTRODUCTION
01:19 SPONSORSHIP – NordVPN
01:53 SHAHED-136
04:03 PROVED HIGHLY EFFECTIVE IN UKRAINE
06:16 ANALYSIS
Sponsorship:
✴️ https://nordvpn.com/DEFENSE
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