The US Lucas drone is reverse-engineered from the successful Iranian Shahed drone used in the Middle-East and in the Ukraine War.
Drone swarms are the military wave of the future.
One of the deadliest military developments of the last few years is the ‘kamikaze’ attack drone, an inexpensive but lethal weapon that is now being deployed in swarms.
Just imagine that one patriot air defense missile can cost between 3 and 5 million dollars, and you send hundreds of cheap drones to overwhelm it.
The most successful kamikaze drone so far is the Iranian Shahed, highly used in the Middle East and also by Russia (they call it ‘Geranium’ or ‘Geran’) in the war in Ukraine.
Back in May, we saw US President Donald J. Trump talk about his demands to military contractors that they provide the US military with cheap and lethal attack drones like the Shahed.
Trump asked American companies to create drones similar to Iranian ones.
US President: “I said to one of the defense companies, ‘I need a lot of drones, and you know, Iran makes good drones, and they make them for $35,000 to $40,000.’ So I said to that company, ‘I want to see… pic.twitter.com/CvITS5wMa7
— Sprinter Press (@SprintMediaNews) May 15, 2025
“I said to one of the defense companies, ‘I need a lot of drones, and you know, Iran makes good drones, and they make them for $35,000 to $40,000.’ So I said to that company, ‘I want to see something like that.’ Two weeks later, they came to me with a drone that cost $41 million! I said, ‘That’s not what I was talking about. Forty-one million?! I’m talking about something that costs $35,000 to $40,000, so you can fly them by the thousands.’”
Russian ‘Geran’ drone.
Russia is further developing the ‘Gerans’
Inside Russia’s Geran-2 drone factory in Tatarstan
Rare footage reveals the Alabuga plant’s mass production of tens of thousands of deadly kamikaze drones
Designed to attack in relentless swarms — ‘Gerans’ punch through Ukraine’s defenses — outmaneuvering even F-16s pic.twitter.com/5bghxrtRPl
— RT (@RT_com) July 20, 2025
So, now Trump has finally gotten what he wanted.
Bloomberg reported:
“The Pentagon is deploying an attack drone that’s based on an Iranian model used against American and allied forces overseas, a tacit recognition of how the US defense sector has lagged in developing cheap technology mastered by cash-strapped adversaries.
The US Central Command said it had established Task Force Scorpion Strike with a squadron of small, lightweight drones produced by Arizona-based SpektreWorks. The drones can be used for one-way attacks, reconnaissance missions and maritime strikes, among other tasks.”
Watch: Jet-powered Geran-3 deployed.
.
Russia’s new drone with a jet engine, the Geran-3, reaching speeds of up to 550–600 km/h, in the latest attack on Kiev:
“Geran-3’s “higher speed and altitude… complicates interception by short-range AD like anti-aircraft guns and MANPADS, which rely on visual or… https://t.co/C6N5HOCEm6 pic.twitter.com/90SJ3v8bFg
— Towhee (@amborin) June 30, 2025
Geran 2 hits port of Reni … on the border with Romania.
Crazy footage. pic.twitter.com/3WOhLW2lMl
— Lord Bebo (@MyLordBebo) July 25, 2023
Moment of impact of a Geran drone in Kharkov. pic.twitter.com/rM2six1JJ5
— MD (@distant_earth83) September 16, 2025
SpektreWorks reverse-engineered Iran’s Shahed-136 drone, part of a push by War Secretary Pete Hegseth to develop cheap technology used in the battlefields of Ukraine and the Middle East.
“Shahed drones cost about $35,000 each, according to the Center for International and Strategic Studies. That’s compared to the $30 million price tag for the US’s MQ-9 Reaper.”
BREAKING: U.S. unveils new attack drones.
The first operational unit equipped with LUCAS—one-way drones reverse-engineered from Iran’s Shahed-136—is now active in the Middle East under Task Force Scorpion Strike.
Capable of autonomous long-range missions
Supports… pic.twitter.com/gLQZDd6ITE
— Defence Index (@Defence_Index) December 3, 2025
BREAKING: The U.S. just announced the deployment of LUCAS drones in the Middle East, a copy of Iran’s Shahed-136 pic.twitter.com/pRLtYPZy0h
— Legitimate Targets (@LegitTargets) December 4, 2025
Read more:
Fiber Optic Drones That Can’t Be Jammed Are Leaving Webs of Wires Everywhere in Ukraine’s Battlefields
The post TOMORROW’S WAR: US Department of War Deploys Cheap and Lethal Long-Range Drones Copied From Iranian Shahed appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.