While the U.S. military is known for expensive, cutting-edge weapons, it’s now launching cheap drones as part of its air strikes on Iran, which itself uses them and has supplied allies with the capability.
In fact, the Pentagon has deployed a copycat version of an Iranian drone that’s been used against Israel, U.S. allies in the Persian Gulf, and Ukraine.
“CENTCOM’s Task Force Scorpion Strike—for the first time in history—is using one-way attack drones in combat during Operation Epic Fury,” U.S. Central Command said in a statement. “These low-cost drones, modeled after Iran’s Shahed drones, are now delivering American-made retribution.”
The American drone is called the LUCAS and was developed by Arizona-based Spektreworks. Each one costs about $35,000, compared to price tags that can run into millions of dollars for advanced missiles. The LUCAS can also be configured for reconnaissance missions.
Iran could have seen the LUCAS coming as it was test-launched from a U.S. Navy ship in the Persian Gulf in December.
Meanwhile, Task Force Scorpion Strike is a squadron focused on one-way-attack drones—the first of its kind—and is led by personnel from U.S. Special Operations Command Central.
It was created in December after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the acquisition and deployment of cheaper autonomous weapons be accelerated last summer.
How long will missile supply last?
The launch of low-cost drones for the first time in combat comes as experts raise concerns that the stockpile of U.S. munitions may not be able to sustain a prolonged conflict with Iran.
Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper told CNBC before the Iran strikes that the U.S. is not prepared for an extended campaign or to support allies in a longer-term war.
“We simply don’t have the defense industrial base to do that, let alone the stockpiles of key weapons such as such as Patriot and THAAD and then strike weapons such as JASSMs,” he said Friday.
For years, the U.S. has been drawing down its inventory of missiles and interceptors. While battling Houthi rebels in Yemen, the Navy relied heavily on Tomahawk cruise missiles, which were also used against Iran this weekend.
In addition, the U.S. has protected allies with Patriot and Standard Missile interceptors that shoot down incoming threats.
While the exact number of U.S. munitions is classified, previous war games that modeled a conflict with China have shown that supplies of certain weapons run out after only a week.
But President Donald Trump has suggested the conflict with Iran could last a while as he makes regime change a goal, saying on social media Saturday that the bombing will continue “as long as necessary to achieve our objective of PEACE THROUGHOUT THE MIDDLE EAST AND, INDEED, THE WORLD!”
Retired Admiral James Stavridis, former NATO supreme allied commander, pointed out Sunday that the U.S. and Israel have already used hundreds of precision weapons so far, adding that it’s time to start focusing on logistics.
“How deep are the stockpiles? In wars, the true professionals are ultimately the logisticians,” he posted on X.