U.S. Army Tests American-Made Kamikaze Attack Drone Designed to Rival the Iranian Shahed 136
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The U.S. Army has begun testing the Low Cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System at Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona, evaluating the Marine Corps-led concept for mass-produced one-way strike aircraft. The trials signal a major shift toward affordable long-range drones that can support high-tempo operations against peer adversaries.
The U.S. Army announced on December 3, 2025, that Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona is now hosting trials of the Low Cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System, or LUCAS, a one-way attack aircraft developed for the U.S. Marine Corps. The program carries an unmistakably industrial ambition. Test officials openly compare the drone to a modern Liberty Ship, a platform intended to be produced rapidly, at scale, and by multiple manufacturers to meet the demands of future high-intensity conflict. The project is a direct response to the Iranian Shahed, a drone that changed modern battlefield configurations, especially in Ukraine. The guiding idea is simple yet urgent: the United States needs a low-price, long-range expendable weapon that can be fielded in quantities appropriate for modern drone-saturated battlefields.
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The LUCAS drone is a low-cost, long-endurance one-way attack system built for mass production, featuring a delta wing design, six-hour flight time, modular payloads for strike or ISR missions, and network-enabled guidance that allows coordinated swarm attacks against armored vehicles, air defense units, and critical infrastructure (Picture source: U.S. Army).
LUCAS is an Americanized answer to the now familiar Shahed pattern. The system uses a delta wing, pusher prop configuration roughly three meters in length with a wingspan of about eight feet, powered by a compact piston engine. Endurance can reach six hours depending on payload, and current prototypes carry roughly 18 kilograms of mission kit. The airframe features a modular payload bay, allowing crews to swap in an explosive charge, an ISR sensor package, or electronic warfare and communications relay modules. Classified as a Group 3 aircraft, the drone fits into existing tactical launch and recovery concepts already familiar to Marine and Army units.
Where LUCAS breaks from its Iranian inspiration is in how it communicates and collaborates. U.S. forces are wiring the platform into emerging multi-domain mesh networks that allow small unmanned aircraft to exchange targeting data and provide beyond line of sight connectivity for dispersed formations. This approach turns a one-way attack drone into a node that can scout, pass information, or guide fires both before and during its terminal run. Autonomy and coordinated group behavior are also part of ongoing trials, giving U.S. units tools to manage complex salvos without overwhelming operators.
Cost remains central to the program’s purpose. At roughly the price of a family sedan, LUCAS is deliberately positioned for the cost exchange battles that have defined the war in Ukraine. A single drone is often cheaper than the interceptor fired to stop it, and dramatically less expensive than a cruise missile achieving a similar range. By filling the gap between small FPV drones and high-end standoff weapons, LUCAS allows U.S. forces to degrade enemy air defenses, logistics hubs, artillery positions, and parked aircraft through mass attacks that exhaust or confuse defenders. The system can also serve as a decoy, compelling an enemy to activate radars or expend precious interceptors on a low-cost target.
Iran’s Shahed 136 and Russia’s Geran 2 have set the global benchmark for this category. Both favor low altitude routes, commercial grade components, and long range profiles intended to saturate air defenses. Russian adaptations include improved anti-jam navigation and new warhead types, while Iran has experimented with jet-powered variants that compress reaction time. These drones have repeatedly demonstrated a simple battlefield truth. Even if most are intercepted, the few that leak through can cripple infrastructure, destroy ammunition depots, or damage high-value air defense assets at a fraction of the cost of the systems they target.
LUCAS is designed not only to counter this threat but to imitate and surpass it. Engineers openly acknowledge that the design draws heavily from captured foreign drones, yet the U.S. version is being built from the outset for integration, scalability, and flexible payload employment. The program’s structure allows multiple domestic manufacturers to produce both airframes and warheads quickly when required, laying the foundation for a wartime production surge measured not in hundreds but in tens of thousands.
The United States now views this class of drone as essential. The Ukraine conflict exposed the limits of relying solely on exquisite precision weapons. Planners warn that any confrontation with a peer adversary will demand vast numbers of expendable long-range strike systems capable of persistent pressure on enemy formations. Tanks, air defense radars, artillery batteries, and logistic columns all become vulnerable when a brigade can launch dozens of attack drones from simple truck-mounted racks. LUCAS marks the moment the United States embraces the logic of mass, attrition-oriented drone warfare. If production scales as intended, the platform will transform ground combat by giving U.S. and allied forces a cheap, long-range tool able to erode enemy capabilities day after day.
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The U.S. Army has begun testing the Low Cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System at Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona, evaluating the Marine Corps-led concept for mass-produced one-way strike aircraft. The trials signal a major shift toward affordable long-range drones that can support high-tempo operations against peer adversaries.
The U.S. Army announced on December 3, 2025, that Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona is now hosting trials of the Low Cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System, or LUCAS, a one-way attack aircraft developed for the U.S. Marine Corps. The program carries an unmistakably industrial ambition. Test officials openly compare the drone to a modern Liberty Ship, a platform intended to be produced rapidly, at scale, and by multiple manufacturers to meet the demands of future high-intensity conflict. The project is a direct response to the Iranian Shahed, a drone that changed modern battlefield configurations, especially in Ukraine. The guiding idea is simple yet urgent: the United States needs a low-price, long-range expendable weapon that can be fielded in quantities appropriate for modern drone-saturated battlefields.
The LUCAS drone is a low-cost, long-endurance one-way attack system built for mass production, featuring a delta wing design, six-hour flight time, modular payloads for strike or ISR missions, and network-enabled guidance that allows coordinated swarm attacks against armored vehicles, air defense units, and critical infrastructure (Picture source: U.S. Army).
LUCAS is an Americanized answer to the now familiar Shahed pattern. The system uses a delta wing, pusher prop configuration roughly three meters in length with a wingspan of about eight feet, powered by a compact piston engine. Endurance can reach six hours depending on payload, and current prototypes carry roughly 18 kilograms of mission kit. The airframe features a modular payload bay, allowing crews to swap in an explosive charge, an ISR sensor package, or electronic warfare and communications relay modules. Classified as a Group 3 aircraft, the drone fits into existing tactical launch and recovery concepts already familiar to Marine and Army units.
Where LUCAS breaks from its Iranian inspiration is in how it communicates and collaborates. U.S. forces are wiring the platform into emerging multi-domain mesh networks that allow small unmanned aircraft to exchange targeting data and provide beyond line of sight connectivity for dispersed formations. This approach turns a one-way attack drone into a node that can scout, pass information, or guide fires both before and during its terminal run. Autonomy and coordinated group behavior are also part of ongoing trials, giving U.S. units tools to manage complex salvos without overwhelming operators.
Cost remains central to the program’s purpose. At roughly the price of a family sedan, LUCAS is deliberately positioned for the cost exchange battles that have defined the war in Ukraine. A single drone is often cheaper than the interceptor fired to stop it, and dramatically less expensive than a cruise missile achieving a similar range. By filling the gap between small FPV drones and high-end standoff weapons, LUCAS allows U.S. forces to degrade enemy air defenses, logistics hubs, artillery positions, and parked aircraft through mass attacks that exhaust or confuse defenders. The system can also serve as a decoy, compelling an enemy to activate radars or expend precious interceptors on a low-cost target.
Iran’s Shahed 136 and Russia’s Geran 2 have set the global benchmark for this category. Both favor low altitude routes, commercial grade components, and long range profiles intended to saturate air defenses. Russian adaptations include improved anti-jam navigation and new warhead types, while Iran has experimented with jet-powered variants that compress reaction time. These drones have repeatedly demonstrated a simple battlefield truth. Even if most are intercepted, the few that leak through can cripple infrastructure, destroy ammunition depots, or damage high-value air defense assets at a fraction of the cost of the systems they target.
LUCAS is designed not only to counter this threat but to imitate and surpass it. Engineers openly acknowledge that the design draws heavily from captured foreign drones, yet the U.S. version is being built from the outset for integration, scalability, and flexible payload employment. The program’s structure allows multiple domestic manufacturers to produce both airframes and warheads quickly when required, laying the foundation for a wartime production surge measured not in hundreds but in tens of thousands.
The United States now views this class of drone as essential. The Ukraine conflict exposed the limits of relying solely on exquisite precision weapons. Planners warn that any confrontation with a peer adversary will demand vast numbers of expendable long-range strike systems capable of persistent pressure on enemy formations. Tanks, air defense radars, artillery batteries, and logistic columns all become vulnerable when a brigade can launch dozens of attack drones from simple truck-mounted racks. LUCAS marks the moment the United States embraces the logic of mass, attrition-oriented drone warfare. If production scales as intended, the platform will transform ground combat by giving U.S. and allied forces a cheap, long-range tool able to erode enemy capabilities day after day.
