Iran Ramps Up Drone Attacks On Gulf: Do These Countries Have Enough Interceptor Missiles?

Last Updated:March 15, 2026, 20:46 IST

The air defence systems in the Gulf, though technically superior and working "exactly as intended" as per US, are being overwhelmed by the sheer volume of Iranian strikes

The sound of air raid sirens have almost become an everyday affair in the Persian Gulf amid the ongoing war in West Asia, as the countries in the region brace themselves to intercept Iranian drone attacks.

The chilling herald of a massive aerial assault has pushed the Gulf states to the brink of a systemic collapse in their air defences. On Sunday, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates urged its residents to seek immediate shelter as missiles streaked across the sky, while Saudi Arabia said it intercepted 10 drones over Riyadh and its eastern regions.

The latest drone attacks followed threats from Iran to target the UAE’s non-US assets, including three major ports, after accusing it of allowing the United States to use its docks as a base for strikes on Kharg Island, a key oil hub.

These strikes, however, no longer seem like isolated skirmishes but a deliberate attempt to trigger a “magazine capacity" crisis across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states. This prompts a couple of important questions: how long can these countries sustain such attacks? And are they running out of interceptor missiles?

WHAT IS THE STATUS OF AIR DEFENCE SYSTEMS IN THE GULF?

While the Gulf states possess some of the most advanced missile defence systems in the world, they lack the strategic “depth" required to handle sustained attacks particularly aimed at stripping them of that very capacity.

The regional air defence network, though technically superior and working “exactly as intended" as per US General Dan Caine, is being overwhelmed by the sheer volume of Iranian strikes.

What Do The Gulf States Use?

The primary systems in use are the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) and the Patriot PAC-3.

The UAE and Saudi Arabia rely on THAAD for high-altitude ballistic defence, while Kuwait and Qatar also use the Patriot system for terminal missile and aircraft defence.

Reports over the past two weeks have, however, indicated that these interceptors have been expended so thoroughly that the countries had flagged critical shortages much earlier since the conflict broke out on February 28. To preserve their higher-end PAC-3 stocks, UAE, Qatar, and Oman have increasingly turned to medium-range systems such as NASAMS and M-SAM to engage cruise missiles.

But the crisis has reached a point where Gulf countries have been forced into a strategy of selective targeting. Both the UAE and Bahrain have reportedly begun to choose which incoming projectiles to engage, prioritising high-value infrastructure and military assets over less populated areas to conserve their dwindling stockpiles.

This approach is a direct result of warnings that if the current rate of attacks continues for another 10 to 12 days, defences could become porous allowing more missiles to strike their targets.

How Fast Are They Running Through Their Stockpiles?

The pace at which Gulf countries are depleting their interceptors is unprecedented, far outstripping the consumption rates seen in the conflict in Ukraine.

In just the first two days of the current conflict, Iran launched at least 400 missiles and 1,000 drones at the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Jordan.

The response from the region was massive: more than 800 interceptors were fired in mere days to counter a single 400-plus missile and drone barrage.

Here are some highlights:

• The UAE has destroyed 241 ballistic missiles and 1,385 drones since the start of the war.
• Bahrain reported intercepting at least 106 missiles and 177 drones.
• Kuwait destroyed 97 ballistic missiles and 283 drones in just the first two days of the conflict.

This consumption rate has created a staggering imbalance. A former US official familiar with regional replenishment requests said: “Whatever munitions were produced in the last couple of months, we have shot several years’ worth of production in the last few days."

The US industrial base is currently incapable of meeting this demand, as it produces only about 600 Patriot PAC-3 interceptors and 96 THAAD missiles per year. The Gulf states are using more interceptor missiles every day or two than the US can produce in an entire year, as reported by The Economist.

What makes it worse is the perception that the US may be “stonewalling" replenishment requests. According to reports, as Washington prioritises support for Israel and maintains air defence systems in East Asia to compete with China, Gulf partners feel increasingly abandoned.

Despite US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth’s claims that his country is “very prepared" to help resupply allies, regional officials have noted that the creation of a task force to expedite supplies is “not happening as fast as needed".

IS THIS WAR AN ENDURANCE RACE?

It looks like the West Asia conflict has transformed into an endurance race, often described as a battle of “who has a deeper magazine".

Scott Benedict, an expert at the Middle East Institute, likened the situation to two archers. “It’s like two archers launching arrows at each other and somebody is going to run out of arrows before the other person runs out of arrows," he told AFP.

Interceptors Vs Missiles: How Does This Work?

This does not, however, look like an equal contest at this point. The attritional imbalance is heavily skewed in favour of the attacker, Iran, which is using low-cost, mass-produced drones to force Gulf states to expend multimillion-dollar interceptors.

A single Patriot interceptor costs roughly $4 million, whereas the Iranian Shahed-series drones they are often forced to shoot down cost as little as $20,000 to $100,000. To ensure a successful kill, defenders typically fire two interceptors for every one incoming projectile meaning $8 million in hardware is often spent to destroy a $20,000 drone.

While US officials aim to “shoot the archer instead of the arrows" by targeting Iranian launch vehicles, the reality is that Iran – much like the Houthis in Yemen – likely retains a residual capability to maintain constant pressure for years. This has turned the war into a test of economic and industrial stamina that the Gulf states, despite their wealth, cannot win through traditional missile defence alone.

ARE THE GULF STATES GETTING ANY HELP?

Faced with the reality that American supplies are insufficient and potentially unreliable, Gulf states are undergoing a strategic shift to reduce their total reliance on the US.

This involves diversifying their defence partners and integrating “cheap mass" technologies to handle prolonged attacks.

Ukraine has emerged as a critical partner, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying his country’s anti-drone experts are already operating in Qatar, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia. These teams are sharing their hard-won expertise from countering Russian (also Iranian-designed) drones to help Gulf nations protect critical infrastructure.

Ukraine has proposed swapping its own cost-effective interceptors for the expensive air-defence missiles currently being wasted on drones. Ukrainian manufacturers, such as SkyFall, are ready to export thousands of interceptor drones like the P1-SUN – it costs a mere $1,000, a fraction of the $4 million price tag of a Patriot missile.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is reportedly mulling the deployment of thousands of “Octopus" interceptor drones to the Gulf region. This cutting-edge equipment, originally intended for eastern Europe, could be repurposed to strengthen British protections in the Gulf against Shahed drones.

There are more innovative solutions as well, with laser systems that the Gulf states are seeking directed-energy weapons to counter saturation tactics without depleting their budgets; alternative suppliers like China, Turkey, and South Korea; and regional integration with renewed pressure for a “Middle East Air Defence" alliance to share radar data and distribute the interceptor burden across the peninsula.

(With agency inputs)

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