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

Iran is building a decentralized drone warfare capability in Tehran's apartment building basements powered by inexpensive technology sourced from China, a leading defense expert has warned.

Draganfly's Cameron Chell also said this emerging system - centered on first-person-view (FPV) drones - could pose a threat not only across the Middle East but potentially to the U.S. homeland.

"The FPVs are Iran's Hail Mary because they are very hard to defend, are incredibly effective and can be delivered in a manner without having to have a central command," Chell told Fox News Digital.

"So, whether it's the Iranian army, whether it's militia groups or Iranian patriots, they can all create or procure their own FPVs and get offensive."

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He added that "Iran could be reiterating FPVs and churning out more than 100,000 a month over time."

"Iran's got either militias or sleeper cells in the states who can, in my estimation, already build this equipment," Chell clarified.

Chell's warning comes as recent incidents in Iraq highlight the growing use of FPVs.

At Baghdad International Airport, Iranian-backed militias operating under the "Iraqi Islamic Resistance" umbrella have launched multiple FPV drone attacks.

Footage released in March 2026 allegedly shows an FPV drone striking a U.S. UH-60M or HH-60M Black Hawk helicopter, while another attack successfully hit a U.S. AN/MPQ-64 Sentinel radar unit at the same base.

"FPVs are a central core theme, and Iran is building these itself, suspecting they're pulling parts in from China and getting the parts through some pretty porous borders. So, it is very difficult to stop that," Chell said.

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He warned that Iran's strategy mirrors what has already occurred in Ukraine, where decentralized drone manufacturing has flourished.

"There will be, or already is, an underground industry for FPV and drone manufacturing, which will or is swelling up inside Iran, the exact same way that we saw it swell up inside Ukraine," he explained.

"This is going to be happening in people's homes in Iran, people's basements, the basements of apartment blocks, where they can construct makeshift assembly lines.

"I am confident China and Russia are shipping in parts to help support the development of drone assembly or manufacturing capability, which is a de facto decentralized cottage industry."

Concerns extend beyond overseas battlefields as about 1,500 Iranians were intercepted at the U.S. border during the Biden administration.

Officials warn the unknown number who evaded detection raises fears of potential "sleeper cells."

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President Trump acknowledged the issue March 11, saying, "A lot of people came in through Biden with his stupid open border, but we know where most of them are: We've got our eye on all of them, I think."

"It is the beginning of an asymmetric capability that the Iranians will use against their neighbors and U.S. assets in the region, but also the U.S. homeland," Chell said.

"We may even want to call it terrorist attacks, using FPV's against their neighbors and practically anywhere in the world.

"It's a matter of when we see FPV attacks, probably swarm, probably sophisticated, on U.S. soil."

"Within the next eight months, the Iranians are going to have sophisticated drone systems that can defeat some RF/radio frequency jamming. They will start to use tactics like swarming or spoofing," he warned.

"It will be very, very difficult for the U.S. to take out these little drone factories in the basements of apartment blocks where civilians help. Cutting supply chains will also be difficult.

"The primary choke point for the Iranians is to establish supply chains from China to have enough supply to constitute precision mass capability and/or consistent, pervasive asymmetric capability," Chell said before stating that, if this happens, "the war between Iran and the U.S. just gets a lot longer."