Iran's 'basement' Chinese drone networks spark fears of sleeper cell attacks on US soil

Iran is gathering a decentralized drone warfare capableness successful Tehran’s flat gathering basements, powered by inexpensive exertion sourced from China, a starring defence adept has warned.

Draganfly’s Cameron Chell besides said that this emerging strategy — centered connected first-person-view (FPV) drones — could airs a menace not lone crossed the Middle East but perchance to the U.S. homeland itself.

"The FPVs are Iran’s Hail Mary due to the fact that they are precise hard to defend, are incredibly effective, and tin beryllium delivered successful a mode without having to person a cardinal command," Chell told Fox News Digital.

"So whether it's the Iranian army, whether it's militia groups oregon Iranian patriots, they tin each make oregon procure their ain FPVs and get offensive," Chell said.

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Smoke rises aft an Iranian drone was intercepted implicit the Bahrain Financial Harbour towers, which houses the Israeli embassy, amid the U.S.-Israeli struggle with Iran, successful Manama, Bahrain, March 6, 2026. Picture taken connected a mobile phone. (Stringer/Reuters)

He added that "Iran could beryllium reiterating FPVs and churning retired much than 100,000 a period implicit time."

"Iran's got either militias oregon sleeper cells successful the States who can, successful my estimation, already physique this equipment," Chell clarified.

Chell’s informing comes arsenic caller incidents successful Iraq item the increasing usage of FPVs.

At Baghdad International Airport, Iranian-backed militias operating nether the "Iraqi Islamic Resistance" umbrella person launched aggregate FPV drone attacks.

Footage released successful March 2026 allegedly shows an FPV drone striking a U.S. UH-60M oregon HH-60M Black Hawk helicopter, portion different onslaught successfully deed a U.S. AN/MPQ-64 Sentinel radar portion astatine the aforesaid base.

"FPVs are a cardinal halfway theme, and Iran is gathering these itself, suspecting they’re pulling parts successful from China and getting the parts done immoderate beauteous porous borders, truthful it is precise hard to halt that," Chell said.

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A drone presumption of the tract of an Iranian rocket onslaught connected a residential building, aft Iran launched rocket barrages pursuing attacks by the U.S. and Israel, successful Tel Aviv (REUTERS/Roei Kastro)

He warned that Iran’s strategy mirrors what has already occurred successful Ukraine, wherever decentralized drone manufacturing has flourished.

"There volition be, oregon already is, an underground manufacture for FPV and drone manufacturing, which volition oregon is swelling up wrong Iran, the nonstop aforesaid mode that we saw it swell up wrong Ukraine," helium explained.

"This is going to beryllium happening successful people's homes successful Iran, people's basements, the basements of flat blocks, wherever they tin conception makeshift assembly lines."

"I americium assured China and Russia are shipping successful parts to assistance enactment the improvement of drone assembly oregon manufacturing capableness - which is simply a de facto decentralized cottage industry," helium warned.

Concerns widen beyond overseas battlefields arsenic astir 1,500 Iranians were intercepted astatine the U.S. borderline during the Biden administration.

Officials pass the chartless fig who evaded detection raises fears of imaginable "sleeper cells."

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Iran drone swarms endanger U.S. subject assets successful Middle East region (Iranian Army/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS)

President Trump acknowledged the contented connected March 11, saying, "A batch of radical came successful done Biden with his anserine unfastened border, but we cognize wherever astir of them are: We’ve got our oculus connected each of them, I think."

"It is the opening of an asymmetric capableness that the Iranians volition usage against their neighbors and U.S. assets successful the region, but besides the U.S. homeland," Chell said.

"We whitethorn adjacent privation to telephone it violent attacks, utilizing FPV's against their neighbors and practically anyplace successful the world," helium added.

"It’s a substance of erstwhile we spot FPV attacks, astir apt swarm, astir apt sophisticated, connected U.S. soil."

"Within the adjacent 8 months, the Iranians are going to person blase drone systems that tin decision immoderate RF/radio frequence jamming. They volition commencement to usage tactics similar swarming oregon spoofing," helium warned.

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"It volition beryllium very, precise hard for the U.S. to instrumentality retired these small drone factories successful the basements of flat blocks wherever civilians help. Cutting proviso chains volition besides beryllium difficult."

"The superior choke constituent for the Iranians is to found proviso chains from China to person capable proviso to represent precision wide capableness and/or consistent, pervasive asymmetric capability," Chell said earlier stating that if this happens, "the warfare betwixt Iran and the U.S. conscionable gets a batch longer."