Infineon transistors. Bosch fuel pumps. Rheinmetall subsidiary Pierburg. Every Russian Geran-2 drone striking Ukrainian power plants carries 112 EU-made components. The supply chain is documented. The gaps in the sanctions regime are deliberate. And Germany simultaneously wires billions to rebuild the infrastructure that German chips destroy, night after night.
Iran has transformed conventional weakness into asymmetric power.
While its air force remains outdated, Tehran relies on drones, precision missiles, cyber operations, and proxy networks to achieve deterrence without air superiority. This article examines how loitering munitions, swarm tactics, and the “Mosaic Defense” doctrine reshape modern warfare — and why even the United States is facing challenges to aerial dominance for the first time in decades.