Iran's military has developed a dual-track structure over nearly five decades, combining cutting-edge drone and cyber technologies with largely obsolete conventional weapons inherited from before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Arms embargoes imposed during and after the Iran-Iraq War (1980–1988) forced Tehran to build a domestic defence industry, producing reverse-engineered equipment alongside increasingly sophisticated ballistic missiles and one-way attack drones, the latter now numbering in the tens of thousands. The asymmetry matters because ongoing U.S. and Israeli strikes under Operation Epic Fury have targeted Iran's nuclear sites and missile infrastructure, yet analysts remain divided on whether Iran retains a significant reserve of long-range weapons or has had its launch capacity decisively degraded.