A destroyed car in Tehran.Image: keystone
US forces have used a new autonomous drone for the first time in attacks on Iran. A new special unit is in charge.
03/01/2026, 09:5703/01/2026, 09:57
The US armed forces used the autonomous kamikaze drone Lucas (Low-cost Unmanned Combat Attack System) in combat for the first time during air strikes on Iran on Saturday. This was confirmed by the responsible regional command. The drone was used as part of Operation Epic Fury.
According to the command, the attacks were directed against command and control centers of the Revolutionary Guards as well as against Iranian air defense, missile and drone positions and military airfields. The aim was to weaken these military capabilities. Those responsible did not provide any details about the extent of the damage.
The current developments in the war in the ticker:
New special unit for disposable drones
The Lucas drone is a disposable attack system modeled after Iran’s Shahed-136 drone. The manufacturer is the US company SpektreWorks based in Arizona. The system is based on a training model for defending against drones and can be launched using a catapult or with rocket support, among other things.
According to the US Department of Defense, a Lucas drone was first launched from a ship in December. Soldiers from the newly formed special unit Task Force Scorpion Strike practiced operations in the Arabian Gulf on board a littoral combat ship. The unit reports to the special command responsible for the region.
Hegseth ordered task force
The drone has a range of around 800 kilometers and can carry an explosive load of around 18 kilograms. Their maximum take-off weight is around 80 kilograms. Experts put the cost per unit at around $35,000.
The Scorpion Strike task force was established in December following an earlier directive from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. In a letter he called for the procurement of inexpensive autonomous systems to be accelerated and these to be more closely integrated into training and deployment. The Navy operates in a maritime area of approximately 6.5 million square kilometers under the Regional Command’s area of responsibility, including the Arabian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman, the Red Sea and parts of the Indian Ocean.
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