The US has deployed the Merops drones to the Middle East to counter Iranian drone attacks with a battle-tested countermeasure.
The US launched “Operation Epic Fury” against Iran on February 28, along with Israel, to degrade the West Asian state’s ballistic missile, drone, and naval capabilities, and target key elements of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its associated terror networks, as previously reported by the EurAsian Times.
Iran responded to the strikes with ballistic missiles and one-way attack drones on US and Israeli targets, as well as on US military facilities spread out across the Gulf.
Anticipating the widespread use of drones by Iran, the United States Army dispatched 10,000 Artificial Intelligence (AI)-enabled Merops interceptor drones that have been used by Ukraine to thwart Iranian-origin Shahed drones and its deravities used by Russia.
Merops were dispatched to the Middle East five days after the conflict broke out on February 28, US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll told Bloomberg.
Ukraine realised early on in the conflict that using advanced surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), such as Patriot, to down these cheap drones creates a massive price differential.
While a Patriot interceptor costs over $3 million per unit, the average cost of a Merops drone is between $14,000 and $15,000, and larger orders may result in an interceptor costing between $3,000 and $5,000, Driscoll stated.
This is significantly cheaper than Iranian Shahed drones, which cost $20,000-$30,000 per unit.
“We’re actually on the better end of the cost curve there,” Driscoll told the publication recently. “So each time Iran launches one that we are able to take down, they are losing a meaningful amount of money.”
It is pertinent to note that with 10,000 units, the US Army could execute a “swarm vs. swarm” strategy by overwhelming Iranian attacks through sheer volume. However, Iran itself has amassed tens of thousands of Shahed-class drones, and it is not clear whether the 10,000 interceptor drones would be sufficient.
This is, perhaps, why the US and several of its allies in the Middle East have turned to Ukraine for help, as a recent EurAsian Times report explains in detail. Ukraine’s head of the Centre for Countering Disinformation, Andriy Kovalenko, revealed on March 6 that the US had asked Kyiv’s assistance in protecting its bases from Iranian strikes in the Gulf.
On March 8, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine would send military experts to the Gulf. Reports suggest that Ukrainian companies producing interceptor drones are not allowed to sell their products outside Ukraine, despite increased interest from Gulf countries, even though Kyiv is in discussions to supply the drones to them.
Besides Merops, the US Army has reportedly dispatched the Coyote interceptor drone from RTX Corp to CENTCOM, as well as the Bumblebee quadcopter, which was also tested in Ukraine.
What Are The Merops Drones?
Merops drone is a small, AI-powered counter-unmanned aerial system (C-UAS) designed to detect, track, and neutralise hostile drones, particularly low-cost, slow-moving threats such as the Shahed.
It presents a shift toward affordable, mobile drone-on-drone interception, emphasising kinetic effects over expensive missiles or electronic warfare.
The drone carries a small warhead, but it is enough to destroy Shahed-class drones. These drones can reach speeds of more than 280 kilometres/hour.
Developed under Project Eagle, a defence technology initiative/venture funded and backed by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, the Merops drone is named after the bee-eater bird genus known for agile aerial hunting.
“This is one of the most effective Shahed killers on the planet right now,” U.S. Brig. General Curtis King, head of the 10th Army Air and Missile Defence Command, earlier told reporters. ”We conservatively estimate that it has been responsible for 40% of all Shahed destruction in Ukraine.”
The Merops system consists of launchers, the interceptor UAVs, and a ground control station. The system is compact, fitting into a midsize pickup truck. Additionally, it is AI-driven for autonomous targeting, which reduces the need for large crews or fixed infrastructure. This is ideal for the fluid, distributed battlefields in the Middle East, where US forces operate from forward bases vulnerable to Iran and its regional proxies.
Additionally, the Merops system resists GPS/EW jamming by using Artificial Intelligence (AI) machine vision (optical/IR) for terminal homing. The system avoids reliance on vulnerable satellite links, using onboard AI to filter noise, identify targets, and execute intercepts even in a jammed environment.
Iran’s doctrine typically emphasises drone saturation attacks to overload hostile defences. However, the Merops’ AI enables real-time detection, tracking, and kinetic intercepts, which shifts the calculus from reactive missile launches to proactive drone hunting. For the US, this could reduce interception failure rates from 10-20% to near zero.
Moreover, Merops complements layered defences. For instance, it could be paired with F-35 radars for early warning, creating a more resilient “kill web” that would minimise collateral damage.
Merops entered classified service with Ukraine in mid-2024 and was integrated into air defence units repelling nightly Shahed barrages.
To fix vulnerabilities exposed by Russian drone attacks on Ukraine, the system was hurried into production and deployment beginning in 2024. Merops reportedly achieved over 1,000 kills against Russian drones in the conflict, proving its efficacy in high-threat environments.
Last year, the drone was also sent to Poland and Romania, both of which were witnessing mounting drone incursions from Russia at the time. On November 18, Polish soldiers launched the Merops from the flatbed of a pickup truck on a windswept training site just 100 kilometres from Ukraine.
This system has been battle-tested in Ukraine, where it has been credited with destroying 40% of Russia’s Shahed kamikaze drones.
“It’s very lethal, very effective, but the key piece here is that it’s cost-effective,” said Brig. Gen. Curtis King, Brig. Gen. King highlighted its lethality in contested airspace. “This is one of many capabilities that NATO nations are going to have to look to employ to defeat the drones,” King stated, noting that the conflict in Ukraine highlights the need for weapons research to keep up with the rapid evolution of modern warfare.
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