U.S. Central Command officials have confirmed that airstrikes launched on Iran on Saturday involved the first combat use of the U.S. military’s new autonomous kamikaze drone.
The Low-cost Unmanned Combat Attack System, or LUCAS drone, was launched as part of Operation Epic Fury, which targeted Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps command and control facilities, Iranian air defense capabilities, missile and drone launch sites and military airfields, CENTCOM officials announced.
“The president ordered bold action, and our brave soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, guardians, and Coast Guardsmen are answering the call,” Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of CENTCOM, said in the release.
The LUCAS platform is a one-way attack drone reverse-engineered after the Iranian Shahed-136.
Built by the Arizona-based SpektreWorks, the drone, which can be launched via catapults, rocket-assisted takeoff and mobile ground systems, is a spinoff of the company’s FLM 136 target model, one designed for counter-drone training while simulating Iran’s Shahed variant.
The FLM 136 model carries a range capability of around 500 miles, according to the manufacturer, with a maximum payload of 40 pounds, or “roughly twice the explosive yield of a hellfire missile,” according to Alex Hollings, host of Sandboxx News’ FirePower.
With a maximum takeoff weight of 180 pounds, the FLM 136 is significantly lighter than the Iranian Shahed. The platforms are also immensely more cost-effective — and scalable — compared to the more advanced munitions in the U.S. arsenal, carrying a price tag of around $35,000 per unit.
A LUCAS drone was successfully launched from a ship for the first time in December, with personnel aboard the Independence-class littoral combat ship USS Santa Barbara carrying out an exercise in the Arabian Gulf, the Defense Department previously announced.
Those troops make up the newly formed Task Force Scorpion Strike squadron, a first-of-its-kind one-way-attack drone squadron led by U.S. Special Operations Command-Central personnel.
“This new task force sets the conditions for using innovation as a deterrent,” Cooper said in a December release. “Equipping our skilled warfighters faster with cutting-edge drone capabilities showcases U.S. military innovation and strength, which deters bad actors.”
The establishment of the task force in December followed a directive months earlier by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, “Unleashing U.S. Military Drone Dominance,” to accelerate acquisition and fielding of affordable autonomous systems throughout the military services.
“To simulate the modern battlefield, senior officers must overcome the bureaucracy’s instinctive risk-aversion on everything from budgeting to weaponizing and training,” Hegseth wrote in the July memo. “Next year I expect to see this capability integrated into all relevant combat training, including force-on-force drone wars.”
The Navy’s operations in U.S. Central Command comprise around 2.5 million square miles of ocean and include the Arabian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Red Sea and parts of the Indian Ocean.
J.D. Simkins is the executive editor of Military Times and Defense News, and a Marine Corps veteran of the Iraq War.
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