NEW YORK, March 4. /TASS/. The US military acknowledged at a meeting with lawmakers in the US Congress that American air defense systems cannot intercept all Iranian drones, CNN reports.

According to the report, during a closed-door briefing in Congress on Tuesday, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine acknowledged that drones pose a much bigger problem than previously thought, and that air defense systems are not capable of intercepting every drone. It was noted that, unlike ballistic missiles, drones are capable of flying slowly and low, which helps them overcome air defense systems.

CNN said the US military tried to dispel concerns about this problem and pointed out that US allies in the Persian Gulf are building up their arsenals of interception capabilities.

On February 28, the US and Israel launched a military operation against Iran, hitting major cities, including Tehran. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several other key Iranian figures were killed. The White House justified the attack by citing missile and nuclear threats allegedly coming from Tehran. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps retaliated by sweeping attacks on Israel. US targets in Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia were also hit.