U.S. Military Employs LUCAS One-Way Attack Drones in Strikes on Iranian Targets
U.S. Central Command confirmed the first combat use of its Low-Cost Unmanned Combat Attack System (LUCAS) drones during Saturday’s air campaign against Iranian military infrastructure. The expendable loitering munitions were deployed alongside missiles and airstrikes as part of Operation Epic Fury.
U.S. Central Command acknowledged on February 28 that its LUCAS one-way attack drones were used operationally for the first time against Iran as part of a broader strike campaign against Iranian targets. The deployment occurred during Operation Epic Fury, a joint U.S.–Israeli offensive focusing on Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) command and control facilities, air defense nodes, missile and drone launch sites and military airfields.
The Low-Cost Unmanned Combat Attack System (LUCAS) is a one-way loitering munition designed to engage targets by flying over a designated zone and detonating on impact. The system draws heavily on the aerodynamic design of Iran’s Shahed-136 drones, which have been extensively used by Iran’s proxies and Russian forces in Ukraine. LUCAS was developed by Arizona-based SpektreWorks as a reverse-engineered derivative of Iran’s design, integrating U.S. avionics and autonomous navigation while maintaining a low unit cost relative to traditional precision munitions.
Reverse engineering and then fielding the drones reflects a shift in U.S. doctrine toward attritable unmanned strike systems that can be produced and deployed at scale. With a reported production cost in the tens of thousands of dollars per unit, LUCAS is positioned as an affordable complement to existing U.S. strike assets.
CENTCOM’s newly established Task Force Scorpion Strike, a squadron specialised in one-way attack drone operations, managed the deployment of the LUCAS drones. This unit was stood up in late 2025 under increased Pentagon emphasis on rapid fielding of autonomous systems across combatant commands.
LUCAS’s first operational use came amid a larger escalation in regional tensions, with Washington authorising extensive strikes following perceived threats from Iranian forces. Alongside LUCAS drones, the U.S. used a range of strike platforms including cruise missiles and fighter aircraft in the coordinated campaign. CENTCOM characterised the operation as the largest concentration of American military firepower in the Middle East in decades, citing the need to dismantle systems posing imminent threats to U.S. and allied forces.
