US sets up one-way attack drone squadron in the Middle East after reverse-engineering Iranian drone
By Haley Britzky, CNN
(CNN) — Having faced continuous drone attacks by Iran and its proxies over the last two years, the US military is responding by standing up its first one-way attack drone squadron in the Middle East — and using drones that borrow design and technology directly from Iran.
The squadron falls under the control of a task force set up by US Central Command just months ago, Task Force Scorpion Strike, and will use drones called Low-cost Unmanned Combat Attack System, or LUCAS drones. The LUCAS drones were created after developers reverse-engineered a Shahed drone from Iran, which the US captured a few years ago, a US defense official said.
The Shahed drones have also been employed by Russia in its attacks on Ukraine.
“LUCAS drones deployed by CENTCOM have an extensive range and are designed to operate autonomously,” a press release by CENTCOM said on Wednesday. “They can be launched with different mechanisms to include catapults, rocket-assisted takeoff, and mobile ground and vehicle systems.”
It’s unclear where specifically the squadron will be based in the Middle East. The US military has been working feverishly in recent months to advance its own drone capabilities as drones have dominated warfare throughout the Middle East and in Ukraine.
Iran and its proxies, for example, hammered US bases in the region for months in the wake of Hamas’ invasion of Israel on October 7, 2023. One attack on an outpost in Jordan killed three US service members.
At the same time, drones and missiles were fired continuously at commercial shipping in the Red Sea by the Iran-backed Houthis. And in 2024, Iran launched roughly 170 drones alongside more than 120 ballistic missiles towards Israel, almost all of which were shot down. US forces intercepted 70 drones and three ballistic missiles the night of the attack; two US airmen received Silver Stars for their efforts during the mission.
The US defense official acknowledged to CNN that the US’ focus on larger and more expensive precision systems “put our forces at a disadvantage” against cheap systems like the drones being used by Iran.
“But now we’re flipping the script,” the official said.
The official declined to say exactly how many drones the new squadron in the Middle East had in its arsenal, saying only there were “many” and more would be coming. The drones cost roughly $35,000 each, the official said, which is relatively cheap compared to other US weapons systems.
The Iranian Shahed drone that was captured by the US a few years ago was damaged at the time, the official said. A group of US companies worked to reverse engineer it and develop the LUCAS drone based on what they found.
The military group that helped lead the development of the drones, Task Force Scorpion Strike, has nearly two dozen personnel led by service members within Special Operations Command – Central, the official said. Not all of those personnel are in the Middle East.
“This new task force sets the conditions for using innovation as a deterrent,” Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of CENTCOM, said in Wednesday’s release.
The-CNN-Wire
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