Footage Appears To Show China Mass-Producing Iranian-Style Kamikaze Drones

Across both conflict theaters, the Russia-Ukraine war in Eastern Europe and the U.S.-Israeli campaign against Iran, there is one common denominator that stands out the loudest: the widespread use of cheap kamikaze drones.

Focusing on the Middle East, Iran’s counteroffensive strategy of mass kamikaze-drone swarms, missile barrages, and electronic warfare has exposed the limits of expensive U.S. and allied air-defense systems, whose interceptor missiles can cost millions of dollars apiece.

Operation Epic Fury risks devolving into a grinding war of attrition for U.S. and allied forces across the Gulf. Reports indicate that missile-interceptor stockpiles are running low, while separate reports say the U.S. has deployed a copycat Shahed-type drone into combat.

There have also been reports that Saudi Arabia could acquire Ukrainian interceptor drones to defend high-value assets, such as oil and gas facilities.

The point is that low-cost kamikaze drones are changing the economics of war. It is not sustainable for the U.S. and allied forces to use million-dollar interceptors against $20,000 Iranian drones.

The problem gets worse for the U.S. as a new report says Chinese private companies are mass-producing Shahed-type drones.

New footage published by The Sun appears to show Shahed-type drones being mass-produced at a factory in China. The footage was originally posted on the video platform Douyin.

Britain’s former security minister Tom Tugendhat commented on the report on X, saying, “Oh look – Iranian and Russian Shahed drones are being mass produced in China.”

Oh look – Iranian and Russian Shahed drones are being mass produced in China.

This isn’t surprising but it’s a reminder that Beijing is the enabler of Moscow’s campaign murdering Ukrainian children. https://t.co/I2DBv2oLjo

— Tom Tugendhat (@TomTugendhat) March 15, 2026

Here’s the U.S. version of the Shahed-style drone, called the Low-Cost Unmanned Combat Attack System, or LUCAS.

Another picture of a Starlink mounted on a Low-Cost Unmanned Combat Attack System (LUCAS) drone https://t.co/SDVp4gZjCK pic.twitter.com/LyxwcL5fso

— Robin (@xdNiBoR) December 4, 2025

Iran’s kamikaze-drone swarms showed over the last three weeks that the battlefield cannot be contained in one single area, and civilian infrastructure was not spared, from data centers to skyscrapers. This alarming reality for the West is a wake-up call that these drones could soon be over US skies.