A $3M Patriot interceptor to kill a $500 hobby drone makes attrition economics unwinnable

When Houthi forces launched cheap drones at Saudi infrastructure, the response was MIM-104 Patriot missiles costing $2-4M per shot against drones costing $2,000-$10,000, creating a cost-exchange ratio of 400:1 in the attacker's favor. At that ratio, an adversary can exhaust a defender's entire interceptor inventory with disposable drones costing less than a single reload. This persists because existing IADS were designed to counter aircraft and ballistic missiles costing millions each, and no military has yet fielded a kinetic interceptor under $10,000 that can reliably hit a maneuvering small drone.