Are U.S. troops ready to face Iranian drone swarm attacks?

Ground operations in Iran could put U.S. forces in the crosshairs of drone swarms without the equipment needed to handle the threat, former defense officials and military analysts say.

Unlike Russian, Ukrainian and even North Korean troops, all of whom have faced down modern drone swarms in Eastern Europe over the past four years, U.S. ground forces have never confronted live enemy drones at scale on the battlefield.

Many of the Pentagon's most promising counterdrone technologies, including microwaves, lasers and other directed energy weapons, haven't been tested on real-world battlefields. That raises the prospect of significant U.S. casualties from Iranian drone attacks.

U.S. forces have surged into the Middle East even as President Trump pushes a message that Operation Epic Fury, the U.S. campaign against Iran, is nearing completion.