布雷特·麦格克是一名CNN全球事务分析师，曾在多任政府中担任高级国家安全职务。上周，人类历史上首次出现了由无人机和机器人攻击并夺取敌方地面阵地的战例。乌克兰总统泽连斯基在描述其部队对俄罗斯哨所的机械化突击后表示：“未来已至”。
这一历史性的首次对于莫斯科方面来说可能是一个意外。此前莫斯科及其伙伴方伊朗一直认为自己掌握了乌克兰战场上的无人机战争艺术。然而，现在乌克兰在创新方面正超越俄罗斯，与此同时美方正在削弱伊朗的无人机和导弹计划。自2023年以来，这些计划一直在帮助俄罗斯维持对乌克兰城镇的残酷袭击。将乌克兰和伊朗这两个战场视为互联关系，可以帮助美方更好地为未来战争做准备，并保持领先对手的地位。这或许也有助于推动乌克兰战争走向终结。
2023年10月7日哈马斯袭击以色列后，中东陷入危机，伊朗选择加入乱局，使用导弹和无人机袭击美方。2023年圣诞节，伊朗“见证者”无人机对伊拉克北部美方据点的复杂袭击造成一名美军士兵受重伤。2024年1月20日，伊朗无人机在约旦导致三名美军士兵丧生。同月在红海，美海军击退了18架攻击无人机、两枚反舰巡航导弹和一枚速度达4马赫的反舰弹道导弹。
Brett McGurk is a CNN global affairs analyst who served in senior national security positions under Presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
Last week, for the first time in human history, an attack by unmanned drones and robots captured an enemy position on the ground. “The future is here,” said Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, after describing the mechanical assault by his forces against a Russian outpost.
This historical first would be a surprise to Moscow, which believed — together with support from Iran — that it was mastering the art of drone warfare in Ukraine. Instead, Ukraine is now out-innovating Russia just as the US is degrading Iran’s drone and missile programs, which since 2023 have helped Russia sustain its brutal assaults against Ukrainian cities and towns.
Seeing these two theaters — Ukraine and Iran — as interconnected can help the United States better prepare for wars of the future and remain steps ahead of its adversaries.
It might also help bring the Ukraine war to a close.
Iran’s missiles and drones — targeting Americans
I was the White House’s point person on the Middle East throughout the crisis that engulfed the region after Hamas’ attack in Israel on October 7, 2023. In every dimension, it was the most complex and horrifying situation that I had seen in two decades — in part because Iran chose early on to join the mayhem and attack Americans with missiles and drones.
On Christmas Day 2023, a complex attack with Iranian Shahed drones on American positions in northern Iraq grievously wounded an American soldier. One month later, on January 20, 2024, an Iranian drone killed three American soldiers in Jordan.
That same month in the Red Sea, the US Navy fended off 18 attack drones, two anti-ship cruise missiles, and one antiship ballistic missile traveling at Mach-4. Thanks only to defenses and the skills of our sailors, no Americans were killed or wounded in the attack.
Iran and Russia use the same technology — and tactics
In the early months of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Iran transferred its Shahed drones to Russia for use against Ukrainian cities, towns and infrastructure. Later, it transferred the technology to manufacture the drones and established co-production lines inside Russia. These assembly lines were soon producing nearly 400 Shahed drones every day.
The mass production of Iranian drones resulted in Russia’s regular swarm attacks against Ukrainian targets, something the world had never seen before. Iran soon borrowed the same tactic — on April 13, 2024, it fired 180 Shahed drones, 120 ballistic missiles, and 30 cruise missiles at Israeli cities. The aim is to use drone swarms to overwhelm and deplete air defenses as heavier payload and faster-moving ballistic missiles then move to strike.
Over four years of war — forced by necessity to defend