India, March 3 -- The conflict between the US and Iran is turning out to be a 'math' challenge for the American side over its use of highly-sophisticated and state-of-art Patriot air-defense missiles against small, rudimentary, and one-way attack Iranian drones.

While Iran's Shahed-136 drones have hit US bases, oil infrastructure and civilian buildings, the problem for the US and Israeli side is not its interception, but that of its affordability and the cost involved to destroy them.

The US-made Patriot air-defense system have largely been successful in stopping the Iranian Shaheds and other ballistic missiles, intercepting over 90% of the UAVs.

But using $4 million defence system to destroy drones worth $20,000 is turning out to be a...