When the United States and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran on February 28, the US simultaneously deployed a new, single-use drone into combat for the first time.
The Low-Cost Unmanned Combat Attack System (LUCAS) is a disposable drone that the US quickly developed by reverse-engineering Iran’s combat-tested Shahed-136 model.
US Central Command confirmed in a post on X that the drones were being used. “CENTCOM’s Task Force Scorpion Strike – first time in history – using one-way attack drones in combat during Operation Epic Fury.”
“These low-cost drones, modeled after Iran’s Shahed drones, are now offering American-made retaliation,” it added.
It is ironic that it has not even caught the attention of weapons experts.
Russia has extensively used the Iranian-designed, single-use Shahed drone to strike urban centers in Ukraine since the start of its February 2022 large-scale offensive.
The Russia-Ukraine conflict has transformed the way modern warfare works: in the past Western powers focused entirely on developing high-tech weapons, but the conflict in Ukraine has shown that mass-producing low-cost equipment is just as important.
A ‘high-low’ mix overcomes defence
“The Iranians initially developed the Shahed because it allowed them to strike at long range and at low cost, while overwhelming the enemy’s defenses,” said an aeronautics expert at the French Institute of International Relations, who declined to be named.
“The refined version we saw in Ukraine was a ‘high-low mix’: a combination of low-tech drones with ballistic and cruise missiles. This allowed them to overwhelm and penetrate enemy surface air defenses.”
Developed by Arizona-based company SpectreWorks, LUCAS was rapidly developed by reverse-engineering Shahed. Its first successful test launch at sea was only from December.
According to specialized media outlet Defense and Security Monitor, LUCAS and Shaheed are very similar but the US drone has more sophisticated networking capabilities. However, the US drone’s range is short – roughly 650km compared to the Shahed’s 2,000km – as is its payload, which is less than half that of its Iranian counterpart.
A $35,000 drone
Multiple suppliers currently produce LUCAS drones whose design has been simplified as much as possible. The cost of the unit is currently estimated at $35,000 (€30,200) but the US military hopes to bring it down to $5,000. That pales in comparison to the remote-controlled MQ-9 Reaper drone, which costs more than $50 million but is reusable and more sophisticated.
“When we talk about America’s adversaries like Russia or China, we’re dealing with sophisticated and integrated surface-to-air defenses. To get past them you need to fire a lot of weapons at once – and that can’t be done with just advanced weapons,” the aeronautics expert explained.
“Supplementing this with smaller drones can overwhelm such systems by giving them a greater number of targets to engage.”
The change in strategy was also due to lessons learned in other theaters of war. When Houthi rebels attacked the Languedoc warship in the Red Sea in late 2023 using Shaheed drones, France’s military responded by using Aster missiles — munitions costing more than €1 million to neutralize the $30,000 device.
“Another aspect of saturation is forcing the adversary to fire. One, they expose themselves. Second, they use their missiles. And anti-aircraft missiles are expensive,” the expert explained.
“If the stockpiles are depleted faster than they are replenished, you end up in the same situation that Ukraine faced at the end of 2023: they had to reduce their interception rate and adapt their strategy – intercepting cheap weapons with cheap equipment.”
The United States isn’t the only nation turning more to single-use drone technology. France has already ordered a one-way effector of the French Shaheed, a type unveiled by the MBDA company at the 2025 Paris Air Show. It should be operational by 2027.
This article has been translated from the original into French.
(tags to translate)Middle East
