How Iran’s Drone-Making Machine Keeps Flying Under Fire

Iran’s drones may have survived not because US and Israeli strikes failed, but because Iran built a war machine designed from the start to keep fighting after the bombs fell.

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In a February 2026 report for the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA), Jonathan Ruhe and Ari Cicurel note that Iran disperses its missile and drone infrastructure across numerous sites, including underground “missile cities.”

Ruhe and Cicurel pinpoint at least 24 missile sites in western Iran before the 12-Day War, including key clusters around Kermanshah, the Konesh Canyon tunnel complex, Lorestan and the Zagros region.

They also note that Iran’s drone infrastructure consists of underground bases, airfields and production facilities spread across central, western and southern Iran. The writers add that missile cities are better protected and concealed than road-mobile systems, but they are less flexible due to fixed locations and narrow firing apertures.

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Read the original article in Asia Times.