US reverse-engineers Iranian drone to attack Iran

NEW DELHI: Taking a cue from China, the US took to reverse-engineering to develop a low-cost ‘kamikaze’ drone based on the Iranian Shahed-136 it had captured sometime back, and is now using it to give Tehran a taste of its own medicine.Reproduced with upgraded tech, the US’s Low-Cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System (Lucas) drones have now become a part of strikes on strategic Iranian assets, with CENTCOM officials confirming that airstrikes launched on Iran last week involved the first combat use of the new autonomous kamikaze drones. “These low-cost drones, modelled after Iran’s Shahed drones, are now delivering American-made retribution,” CENTCOM said on X.

Lucas drones, manufactured by Arizona’s SpektreWorks, were first showcased in July 2025. The system uses an open architecture, allowing different payloads and communications systems. It 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, and at about $35,000 each, it is far cheaper than the MQ-9 Reaper, which costs roughly $20 million to $30 million, but is reusable and far more sophisticated.

“Lucas, indispensable,” CENTCOM chief Admiral Brad Cooper said recently when asked about its effectiveness of the US-made drone.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 authorised in the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025”. Lucas is saving US big bucks and is cost-effective in taking on Iranian targets.Iranian drones — costing $20,000–50,000 (around Rs 18–45 lakh) — have been bleeding the US and its allies of missile stockpiles, which have to fire interceptors worth $3 million (around Rs 27 crore) to take down the cheap, low-tech drones.Based on research conducted shortly after the conflict broke out, the US military campaign ‘Operation Epic Fury’ has imposed a substantial financial burden, with costs estimated at $900 million a day. The conflict’s rapid, high-intensity nature —involving significant use of munitions, naval and air assets — resulted in an estimated $3.7 billion expenditure in the first 100 hours.