United States in assault on Iran launches for first time low-cost, no-return attack drones

The U.S. military is launching one-way, Iran-style attack drones in its air attack on Iran. 

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth issued a July memo on “Unleashing U.S. Military Drone Dominance” – which set the stage for the use of the no-return drones less than a year later, in what the Pentagon is calling "Operation Epic Fury." 

The U.S. and the Israelis launched a joint attack early Saturday morning against Tehran, killing Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei and degrading the Iranian military.

U.S. Central Command in announcing the joint effort, also announced its debut of the one-way drones.

“The first hours of the operation included precision munitions launched from air, land, and sea,” the U.S. military said. “Additionally, CENTCOM’s Task Force Scorpion Strike employed low-cost one-way attack drones for the first time in combat.”

CENTCOM  also said the low-cost drones are modeled after Iran's Shahed drones, are now delivering American-made retribution.”

The Military Times reported that the Low-cost Unmanned Combat Attack System (LUCAS) drone platform “is a one-way attack drone reverse-engineered after the Iranian Shahed-136.”

The news outlet also said they are built by Arizona-based SpektreWorks and can be launched by catapults, rocket-assisted takeoffs and mobile ground systems.

Their maximum reportedly weighs about180 pounds, significantly lighter than the Iranian Shahed and cost about $35,000 per unit.

“Drones are the biggest battlefield innovation in a generation, accounting for most of this year's casualties in Ukraine. Our adversaries collectively produce millions of cheap drones each year,” Hegseth said in a memo last summer. “While global military drone production skyrocketed over the last three years, the previous administration deployed red tape. U.S. units are not outfitted with the lethal small drones the modern battlefield requires.”