The US Is Effectively Hitting Iran With Copies Of The Shaheds

The new LUCAS drones could soon become mass-produced weapons.

The United States is already using the new LUCAS attack drones, called analogs of the Shaheds, to attack Iran. At the same time, their production is still limited, numbering only dozens of units. This is reported by Defense Scoop with reference to the US Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Emil Michael.

According to him, the drones have not yet entered full-scale mass production, so we are not talking about tens of thousands of units. However, even the available quantity was enough to demonstrate high efficiency in combat use.

What is known about LUCAS

LUCAS drones were introduced only in July 2025 as a relatively cheap means of long-range defeat. It is expected that they could cost around $55,000 or even less per unit.

The first squadron was deployed to the Middle East as early as December 2025. At the time, questions were raised about the lack of a warhead, but the U.S. has shown it has been able to adapt the drones for strikes.

Despite their claimed effectiveness, the scale of production remains small, making such drones less affordable even compared to traditional missiles.

At the same time, the Pentagon expects production rates to increase, especially amid the ongoing conflict and the positive results of their use.

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