The Pentagon is planning to mass produce one-way LUCAS attack drones, which have been deployed by US forces in the current war in the Middle East after they were created by reverse-engineering Iran's cheap and deadly Shahed system.
The LUCAS drone — or Low-Cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System — is a US version of Iran's kamikaze drone, and is manufactured by the US company SpektreWorks. The Defense Department sent a unit operating the drones to the Middle East ahead of the start of Operation Epic Fury against Iran.
Pentagon leadership has described the system as indispensable in the conflict.
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“The idea is to mass produce them in this country and have surge capacity,” Emil Michael, the Defense Department's under secretary of defense for research and engineering, said at a defense industry conference in Washington on Tuesday.
“They work very well so far,” Michael added, calling the drones “a useful tool in the arsenal.”
The one-way attack drones are estimated to cost roughly $55,000 a piece and have a range that could exceed 400 nautical miles. The aim is to replace more expensive US cruise missiles that can cost millions of dollars each.
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Iran has used Shahed drones to cause chaos across the Middle East in retaliation for the US and Israeli airstrikes that started the current war. Tehran has made the drones for years and has exported them to Russia, where they have been used to strike military and civilian targets in Ukraine.
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