The disturbing cluster of drones described by a downed U.S. pilot in Iran — moving, he said, in an odd, “jellyfish-like” formation — points to the scale of Tehran’s investment in unmanned aircraft technology, a program analysts say is aimed at blunting the traditional battlefield advantages of the United States and its allies.
“They are adapting faster than us,” Brett Velicovich, a drone expert and founder of Powerus, told The Post.
“Iran has spent years developing capabilities designed to offset the overwhelmingly conventional advantages of the United States and its allies.”
The unidentified F-15 pilot was rescued on April 3 after spending more than a day concealed deep inside hostile territory in the Zagros Mountains. He later described encountering what felt like a “minefield of drones” hanging in the sky — a sight he believed may have played a role in the downing of his aircraft.
Velicovich cautioned that the pilot, who suffered a severe concussion, may not have had a completely clear view of what was unfolding. Still, he said the formation the pilot described could be consistent with what is known as a “mothership” drone.
Such mothership drones are larger unmanned aircraft designed to transmit communications or commands to smaller drones operating around them, Velicovich explained. He noted that the use of these systems has become “a relatively normal way of warfare” in active conflict zones, including Ukraine.
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In that kind of setup, the mothership typically flies at a higher altitude to survey the battlefield and may sometimes be tethered. If it detects something unusual, Velicovich said, it can deploy a smaller drone — such as a first-person-view drone — to carry out a strike, or send surveillance drones to gather more information on the terrain below.
Velicovich added that smaller drones can also be linked through systems such as Starlink or mesh networks, technology he said Iran is capable of using. Similar drone networks have become increasingly common in current conflicts around the world.
“Right now, if you were to go to Ukraine and Russia, they use these mothership drones to extend the distance that a smaller drone is able to fly,” he said.
“Hypothetically, these drones could have been going up very high in the air to gain situational awareness, especially if US forces were in the area. It’s definitely within the art of the possible that this is something the Iranians have.”
Despite being something “many other countries have” in their arsenal, he said the technology on display as relayed by the downed airman was a “cutting edge piece of technology” typically only wielded by countries at war.
Velicovich said what worries him personally is the “unpredictability” of these drone capabilities, “not only from Iran, but other hostile nations like China and Russia,” whose drone programs are all outpacing those in the US.
“The areas that concern military planners most are not necessarily traditional tanks or fighter jets, but rather drones, ballistic and cruise missiles, electronic warfare, cyber operations and increasingly sophisticated command-and-control networks,” he said.
