By Mike Stone, David Jeans and Joey Roulette
March 3 (Reuters) – The U.S. successfully debuted a low‑cost suicide drone in combat in Iran just eight months after its Pentagon unveiling, as the U.S. pushes to accelerate weapons programs.
The Low-Cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System (LUCAS) drone, manufactured by Arizona’s SpektreWorks, was showcased in July 2025 when Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth walked the Pentagon’s inner courtyard with more than a dozen companies competing to supply the military with new equipment.
Drones have become central to modern warfare following their effective use in the Ukraine war, including Iran-made Shahed systems flown by Russia that closely resemble the LUCAS. The sector is also among the most fiercely competitive in the U.S. defense industry, with SpektreWorks vying for Pentagon contracts against major defense primes and a wave of Silicon Valley–backed startups such as Anduril, Shield AI and AeroVironment.
U.S. Central Command said LUCAS drones are modeled after the Shahed.
RAPID DEPLOYMENT
The rapid fielding of the LUCAS represents a departure from traditional Pentagon acquisition timelines, which typically span years from initial development to operational deployment. Defense officials said the compressed timeline reflects lessons learned from observing drone warfare in Ukraine, where both sides have employed thousands of low-cost unmanned systems.
The LUCAS deployment comes as the Pentagon pushes to rapidly expand American industrial capacity for producing inexpensive, attritable drones under the $1 billion Drone Dominance Program authorized in the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025.”
The LUCAS drone uses an open architecture that allows different payloads and communications systems, and can be deployed either for strikes or as a target drone, according to company materials. It can be launched from the ground or a truck. At about $35,000 each, it is far cheaper than the MQ‑9 Reaper, which costs roughly $20 million to $40 million but is reusable and far more sophisticated.
The government owns the LUCAS design intellectual property, meaning multiple manufacturers could produce the system, though SpektreWorks currently holds manufacturing contracts.
SpektreWorks declined to comment for this story.
DRONES USE STARLINK AND VIASAT SATELLITES
During its development at the Pentagon, the LUCAS drone was paired with satellite communications systems including Viasat’s MUSIC and SpaceX’s Starlink or Starshield, according to two sources familiar with the program. Reuters could not determine what connectivity systems are being used during current Iran operations.
Neither SpaceX nor Viasat returned requests for comment.
A startup called Noda provides the software to control the drones, known as an “orchestrator” that allows warfighters to control multiple autonomous systems, one of the sources familiar with the program said. Noda declined to comment.
Drone experts told Reuters the LUCAS design shares similarities with Iran’s Shahed drone, which Tehran has supplied to Russia for use in Ukraine. The Shahed is believed to be a copy of Israel’s Harpy loitering munition, according to defense analysts. The Harpy design has been widely replicated by countries including China and Taiwan.
The LUCAS also bears resemblance to the Drone Anti-Radar (DAR), a loitering munition jointly developed in the 1970s and 1980s.
(Reporting by Mike Stone in Washington; editing by Chris Sanders, Joe Brock and Stephen Coates)
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