Saturday's US strikes on Iran marked the first-ever combat use of LUCAS drones – weapons that bear an uncanny resemblance to the Russian-deployed munitions in Ukraine.
The Low-Cost Unmanned Combat Attack System is a one-way loitering munition visually almost indistinguishable from Iran's Shahed. Russia has deployed that Iranian design – and its own domestically built copy – across the Ukrainian battlespace on a massive scale.
Standing up the Pentagon's first regional one-way attack drone squadron was the work of US Central Command, which announced the formation of the LUCAS-equipped unit in December.
The LUCAS itself originates with SpektreWorks, a US engineering firm, and can be deployed via catapult, vehicle, or mobile ground station. Rocket-assisted takeoff and what the Navy calls an "extensive" range round out its capabilities.
As a loitering munition, LUCAS is engineered to orbit a target for a sustained period – then plunge and detonate on impact. The delta-wing silhouette LUCAS shares with the Shahed is far from unique; it is the dominant aerodynamic design for this class of weapon, according to Business Insider.
Drones of this type – most infamously the Shahed and Russia's Geran-2 – have caused widespread devastation across Ukrainian cities. Iran-backed terrorists have deployed comparable systems throughout the Middle East, targeting American troops, Israeli positions, and commercial shipping.
Pentagon procurement of low-cost unmanned platforms underpins the LUCAS program, and the Trump administration has elevated the expansion of uncrewed production capacity into a top defense priority, Business Insider reported, with Russia and China cited as the benchmarks to match.
LUCAS joined a wider array of strike assets that American forces and Israeli jets brought to bear against Iran on Saturday. Tomahawk cruise missiles were fired from naval vessels, and HIMARS rocket artillery systems were operated by ground units, a US official told Business Insider.
CENTCOM's Task Force Scorpion Strike - for the first time in history - is using one-way attack drones in combat during Operation Epic Fury. These low-cost drones, modeled after Iran's Shahed drones, are now delivering American-made retribution. 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/VYdjiECKDT
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) February 28, 2026
Iran's answer to the joint attack was a barrage of missiles directed across the Middle East – hitting US military installations in Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates. To counter the salvos, MIM-104 Patriot systems, THAAD batteries, and ship-based Standard Missile interceptors were activated, the US official confirmed to Business Insider.
