The U.S. Start-Up Making Low-Cost Interceptors for the Iran War

In a small warehouse in the United Arab Emirates, workers spend up to 12 hours a day snapping together 3-D printed components to make interceptors capable of knocking Iranian drones out of the sky at speeds of up to 200 miles per hour. The facility, which came online last month, is being used by Powerus, a start-up in West Palm Beach, Fla., to make inexpensive interceptors. The factory is the company’s first foray into the Middle East, and part of its plan to become a global supplier. Factories affiliated with Powerus make roughly 3,000 drone interceptors a month, a spokesman said, and the company is trying to establish a network of factories that will increase production to 15,000 a month worldwide by mid-2027. It would not publicly disclose the identities of its customers or contract manufacturer in the Emirates. Achieving those numbers requires a complete shift in the way business is done in a defense industry known for being slow, bureaucratic and expensive. To meet the urgent demands of U.S.-allied countries that are under threat, Powerus has teamed up with local manufacturers in regions where the interceptors are needed. This allows the company to make them quickly in existing factories, rather than build new plants in the United States and export the weapons. The Iran war has accelerated longstanding plans by the Emirates and other nations to make more weapons within their own borders. The civilian infrastructure of the Emirates was the most heavily targeted after the war started in February, as Iran sought to show its leverage over a symbol of global prosperity in the region. Now the need for more interceptors is critical as American-made stockpiles dwindle. More than 500 ballistic missiles and over 2,200 Iranian drones have been fired at targets in the Emirates. The attacks killed at least 15 people, injured hundreds, shut down an oil refinery and destroyed two Amazon data centers. Interceptors are like small missiles, designed to crash into and destroy airborne threats before they reach their targets. The interceptor that Powerus developed, called Guardian, costs about $5,000 and is based on a Ukrainian design that was effective against Russian Shahed drones. We are having trouble retrieving the article content. Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? Log in . Want all of The Times? Subscribe .