This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 78%. (I'm a bot)

> DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Iran's military tested new attack drones in the coastal area of the Gulf of Oman and near the strategic Strait of Hormuz Saturday as part of its ongoing annual drill, state TV reported.

> Iran has tested many other military drones over the past decade.

> The military drones have been a point of contention between Iran and the United States and its allies, which claim Tehran is supplying Moscow with drones that have been used in attacks in West-backed Ukraine.

Extended Summary | FAQ | Feedback | Top keywords: Iran^#1 drone^#2 protests^#3 military^#4 supply^#5

I'm not sure why they bother. Most of the fighting they do is insurgent forces and funding of them.

gotta keep showing them cpu washed morons that its actually a frikin country! not just a cuntry

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How would a F-35 handle a swarm of drones?

With speed and altitude. It is substantially faster than current drones. And if armed enough it can in turn shoot down the drones.

Probably test them to sell to Russia. Or test them to prepare for a future conflict with the Saudis and Israelis

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Iran military drones? Do they even have any? Here I was under the impression they only have terrorist drones.

If you have 200 of drones in air, a F-35 can reduce the amount to perhaps 196 with cost of $12,000,000.

It's easier and cheaper to let them fly near the target and then let radar controlled AA autocannons and short range missiles take them down. A few of them might break up enroute if you let them fly further.

If UAE is short of engineering and vanity projects, how about digging a two way channel from Dubai to Oman for very large ships. Might involve boring a 100m diameter tunnel through a mountain range, or two.

>insurgent forces

Reddit's 2nd best comedian.

They are surrounded by people who hate them.

So they don't admit to it, but they do have soldiers (IRGC) fighting in Syria and Iraq. This has helped them gain valuable experience and battle hardened soldiers.

Also, they know their weaknesses better than any other nation. They fully expect that any invasion of Iran will come from a significantly more powerful nation, so they're practicing asymmetric warfare. Their heavy investments in drone and missile technology, as well as small vehicles that are hard to detect, leads to this conclusion.

Their goal is to make an enemy invasion as painful and chaotic as possible.

Potentially closing the strait of hormuz is a part of that strategy.

Thus, this military exercise.

What do you mean?

Other than Iran and Azerbaijan, the Shia spread out across the Middle East are often persecuted and oppressed. Just like any other religious minority. So everyone has some sort of resentment towards the Sunni sect.

Right. I would also say they are persecuted and oppressed in Iran, and not just Shia. That's probably because I'm more liberal than your average Iranian.

Repeat of lesson learned with Air Force interceptors in Vietnam, which were originally only equipped with air-to-air missiles. Then they faced Russian Migs in actual combat. Guns were added!

Moral: A true multi-role fighter must have a gun.

Future: A gun can fire a short burst at each drone. Very economical.

Add computer auto control and off-axis shooting, and the fighter can fly past a flock of drones, downing them all.

Soon the drone issue will be lessened

Thank you for providing them to Russians so that counter measures will be learned and tactics put to action

F-35 does have a gun, it’s just the B and C variant that don’t. B, because the lift fan takes up the space where a lot of the gun would be and C I’m not too sure about tbh.

Don't give them ideas...

This plus not being detected at all by said drones then blowing up the operating station from over the horizon with an air to ground loadout.

Modern fighters don’t carry nearly enough ammo for their Gatling guns for more than a handful of short bursts.

If you really need an airborne anti drone plane you’re probably better off mounting an auto cannon on a turret on the belly of an old bomber airframe.