The Lucas’ new kamikaze drones have their baptism of fire in the first salvo of the war on Iran.
We have been reporting here on TGP about how the attack drones have become arguably the most lethal developments in warfare in the last few years.
One of the most successful kamikaze drones so far is the Iranian Shahed, widely used by Russia (they call it ‘Geranium’ or ‘Geran’) in the war in Ukraine.
Back in May 2025, US President Donald J. Trump demanded from his military contractors that they provide the US military with ‘cheap and lethal attack drones’ like the Shahed.
And that’s how the Lucas drone was developed.
The new ‘loitering munition’ was one of at least three new weapons used by US forces for the first time in the opening salvo of Operation Epic Fury against Iran.
LUCAS drones used by the U.S. in strikes against Iran. The United States has for the first time employed one-way attack drones in combat. They resemble Iran’s Shahed-136 and Russia’s Geran-2 drones and cost $40,000 each. They feature SpaceX Starlink terminals and fly at 120 mph. pic.twitter.com/w4t9DNk2gA
— @mikko (@mikko) March 1, 2026
The Telegraph reported:
“Iran-style suicide drones, reverse-engineered from Iranian technology, were used in the attack, US officials said.
A unique black Tomahawk missile and precision-strike missile were also launched, footage shared by the US Navy and US Central Command appeared to show.”
The Battle of the Shaheds: The US Used LUCAS Strike Drones Against Iran
The US Central Command announced the first use of LUCAS drones, created based on the famous Iranian drone Shahed-136, in combat operations. It is reported that a special unit, the Task Force Scorpion Strike,… pic.twitter.com/cQvoUPwErF
— 🇷🇺 WARGONZO -ULYANA STRIZH 🇷🇺 (@UlyanaStrizh) March 1, 2026
It’s reported to have the ability to find targets beyond the line of sight, ‘including ones that suddenly pop up in front of it’.
“These features make the drones more capable than the variant being used by Russia against Ukraine’s cities and critical infrastructure.
[…] Costing approximately $35,000 [£26,000] per unit, Lucas is a low-cost, scalable system that provides cutting-edge capabilities at a fraction of the cost of traditional long-range US systems that can deliver similar effects,” Capt Tim Hawkins of the US Navy, a Central Command spokesman, told The Warzone last year.”
Reports that the US used one-way attack, aka kamikaze drones, for the first time in the strikes on Iran today
— Jack Posobiec (@JackPosobiec) February 28, 2026
1/ Russian commentators are sounding the alarm over America’s use of a new kamikaze drone against Iran, the Low-cost Unmanned Combat Attack System (LUCAS). They note that it appears to have an integrated Starlink terminal and warn that it’s a serious threat to Russia. ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/HZPzllg9vq
— ChrisO_wiki (@ChrisO_wiki) March 1, 2026
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