Breaking Down Iran's Shahed Drones, China's Invasion Barge and More | WSJ Equipped

TL;DR

WSJ breaks down seven modern weapons systems — from Iran's cheap kamikaze drones to China's amphibious invasion barges — shaping near-future warfare.

Key Points

• 1.Lockheed's F-35 is pivoting to drone command with 'Angry Bees' software. Pilots can quarterback up to four Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCAs) from the cockpit, but Lockheed has lost the sixth-gen fighter contract to Boeing and CCA prototype contracts to Anduril and General Atomics.
• 2.Blue Halo's Locust laser costs just $3 per shot to fire. The 3,400-lb palletized system melts targets over 2 miles away using AI tracking, but its range is only ~3 miles versus the Patriot's 120 miles, and battlefield maintenance remains a critical unsolved problem.
• 3.China's new modular amphibious landing platforms could span 2,700 ft when linked — nearly 7.5 football fields. Built at a Guangdong shipyard, the three connected vessels use jackup legs and bow ramps to offload hundreds of vehicles per hour, potentially bypassing Taiwan's limited defensible coastline.
• 4.Iran's Shahed-136 costs ~$50,000 and overwhelms defenses through mass salvo launches. Made from commercial parts with a basic piston engine, Iran has shared designs and manufacturing licenses with Russia, which plans to build 6,000 improved units — with GPS anti-jamming — by 2025.
• 5.Ukraine's domestically produced Flamingo cruise missile has an 1,800-mile range and a 20-ft wingspan. Larger and simpler than a Tomahawk, it's designed to hit Russian oil and energy infrastructure, but budget constraints, parts shortages, and Russian strikes on Ukrainian factories threaten production targets of 200 per month.
• 6.The GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator is the only conventional bomb capable of threatening Iran's Fordow facility. Buried up to 295 ft under a mountain, Fordow requires multiple sequential MOP strikes to crack the rock, and Israel lacks both the bomb and the B-2 bombers needed to deliver it — making US involvement essential.
• 7.Russia's Soviet-era FAB glide bombs are retrofitted with UMPK guidance kits for tens of thousands of dollars. With a range of ~40 miles, Russian Su-34s launch them from inside Russian airspace; Ukraine estimates Russia dropped 16 times more glide bombs this year than last, with a 3-ton variant reportedly in development.
• 8.The AC-130J Ghost Rider gunship, costing $165 million, is being used to strike alleged drug boats in the Caribbean. Armed with a 30mm Bushmaster cannon and a 105mm howitzer, it has been deployed from El Salvador and Puerto Rico, with MQ-9 Reapers also confirmed in the operation.
• 9.The Pentagon's drug-boat strikes have killed over 100 people and destroyed 25+ vessels but remain classified. Trump officials call the targets terrorists posing a military threat, while some members of Congress argue the strikes on alleged criminals outside armed conflict may be illegal and constitute a potential war crime.