this post was submitted on 23 Sep 2026
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[–] Voroxpete@sh.itjust.works 1 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

I hope it was clear I was not complementing the US on their destruction of Iraq

Oh, 100% clear.

My only point of contention here would be with your assertion that drones mitigate air superiority. That's not my read on what's happening in Ukraine, as an example.

In some specific aspects, drones allow long range strikes in areas where air dominance might otherwise prevent them, but we already had that capability with missiles. Modern drones just make it much more economical. But air power still matters. The reason Russian air power has been such a limited factor in Ukraine isn't because of drones, it's a combination of very effective Ukrainian air defence and limited Russian resources. Basically Russia can't afford to lose expensive aircraft and Ukraine has gotten very good at shooting them down.

More broadly, however, we're increasingly learning the limits of air power as a whole. This isn't something that arose from drones so much as something that's been naturally coming together for decades. In the advent of a full invasion of Iran, for example, much of the fighting would take place in the mountains where caves and geography make close air support and strategic bombing highly ineffective. That same terrain would also limit the use of armour and artillery, robbing the US of most of their force multipliers. The same thing happened in Afghanistan

Essentially, I agree that American air superiority is often over valued, but I don't think I agree that drones are the reason for that.

[–] 3abas@lemmy.world 1 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

The US depends on friendly bases around Iran to refuel, reload, and launch their bombers. Iran used drones to overwhelm the air defense systems and put the bases out of service. Iranian drones are cheap, and American interceptors are extremely expensive.

Iran's use of drones is what tipped the equation and made it a war of attrition instead of just a one sided endless bombing campaign.

It changes the playing field, not makes air superiority obsolete.

[–] Voroxpete@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 hours ago

OK, yeah, I can definitely see your argument there.