Low-cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System
A low-cost U.S. one-way attack drone derived from the Shahed 136.
Last updated
LUCAS is designed for mass production at a low cost, with U.S. CENTCOM claiming a unit price of $35,000.[1] The FLM-136 Low-cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System (LUCAS) is a kamikaze drone built for the U.S. military by SpektreWorks, a defense contractor.[2] Its design comes from reverse-engineering the Iranian HESA Shahed 136, and it is a bit smaller, measuring roughly 10 feet in length with an 8-foot wingspan.[3]
How it changed
Expendable drones of this kind are designed to carry a warhead and explode when they hit their target.[4] The earliest such drones date to the 1970s and 1980s, but output grew sharply in the 2000s and 2010s, particularly with Iranian designs.[4] A Shahed 136 was seized by the U.S. "a few years" prior to 2025, after which reverse-engineering work began.[3] LUCAS was developed from that earlier drone; first prototypes were shown at a Pentagon briefing in July 2025, and testing occurred at Yuma Proving Ground.[5]
A squadron of LUCAS drones became operational in the Middle East during December 2025.[6] LUCAS is intended to serve as a response to cheap drone swarms employed by foes such as Iran and Russia.[7]
What the maker and period sources say
A CNN report from December 2025 stated that LUCAS drones were positioned at an undisclosed base in the U.S. Central Command operating area on November 23, 2025.[8] A U.S. defense official told CNN that the drones cost roughly $35,000 each, which is cheap compared to other U.S. weapons systems.[8] The Army's Yuma Proving Ground described LUCAS as a one-way attack aircraft sponsored by the Marine Corps, and noted that the system is designed for production by multiple manufacturers.[9] SpektreWorks described LUCAS as a "modular, Group 3 unmanned aircraft system" in a LinkedIn video showing a prototype launched via rocket-assisted takeoff.[10]
References
- Wikipedia, "Low-cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Chiu, "Meet LUCAS: Pentagon's Modular Reply to Iran's Shahed", www.kyivpost.com; "U.S. Presents Low-Cost LUCAS Strike Drone Inspired by Shahed", Militarnyi; Bryen, "Iranian drone clone now a US Central Command weapon", Asia Times, 2025-12-06; Chiu, "Meet LUCAS: Pentagon's Modular Reply to Iran's Shahed", www.kyivpost.com (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Low-cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Johnston, "U.S. military uses 'one-way attack drones' in combat for first time in Iran strikes", The Japan Times, 2026-03-01 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Low-cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Britzky, "US sets up one-way attack drone squadron in the Middle East after reverse-engineering Iranian drone CNN Politics", CNN, 2025-12-03 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Low-cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Goudarzi, "One way attack: How loitering munitions are shaping conflicts", June 5, 2023; Epstein, "A new US military task force just used its cheap Shahed lookalike drones for the first time to strike Iran", Business Insider; Tirpak, "Replicator 'on Track' to Field Thousands of Cheap Drones Within Months", December 13, 2024; Trevithick, "Pentagon Just Made A Massive, Long Overdue Shift To Arm Its Troops With Thousands Of Drones", July 10, 2025; Vincent, "US military stands up first kamikaze drone squadron under Ce en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Low-cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Epstein, "A new American drone that showed up at the Pentagon looks a lot like the Shaheds Russia uses to bomb Ukraine", Business Insider; "FLM 136", SpektreWorks; "Low-cost combat attack system tested at U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground", www.army.mil, 2025-12-03 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Low-cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Epstein, "A new American drone that showed up at the Pentagon looks a lot like the Shaheds Russia uses to bomb Ukraine", Business Insider (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Low-cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Altman, "U.S. Deploys Shahed-136 Clones To Middle East As A Warning To Iran", The War Zone, 2025-12-03 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Britzky, "US sets up one-way attack drone squadron in the Middle East after reverse-engineering Iranian drone CNN Politics", CNN, 2025-12-03. facts only, no text reused. cnn.com
- "Low-cost combat attack system tested at U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground", www.army.mil, 2025-12-03. facts only, no text reused. army.mil
- Chiu, "Meet LUCAS: Pentagon's Modular Reply to Iran's Shahed", www.kyivpost.com. facts only, no text reused. kyivpost.com
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Low-cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Low-cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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