US's copycat version of Iran's deadly Shahed suicide drones spotted on the battlefield for the first time

By TOM MIDLANE and JOSEPH LUKE PALMER Published: 17:14, 20 April 2026 | Updated: 17:18, 20 April 2026 The US's copycat version of Iran's infamous Shahed drones has been spotted on the battlefield for the first time, the Daily Mail's War On Tape has revealed.  LUCAS (Low-cost, Uncrewed Combat Attack System) was caught on camera by an Iranian militia divebombing an enemy shelter in Iraq, turning the building into a giant fireball.  Designed by SpektreWorks for the US military, the new model costs $35,000 - far cheaper than a conventional missile - and has been used since the opening salvos of the joint US-Israel strike on Iran, Operation Epic Fury.  While the US has become accustomed to their military hardware being copied by adveraries, War on Tape's Chris Pleasance says LUCAS represents the first time in decades the States has so openly imitated one of its enemies.  However, there remains crucial differences between the LUCAS and Shahed models. While Iran's Shahed pilots have to plan their flight trajectories before takeoff, the US's new one-way attack drones - a type of vehicle commonly known as 'suicide' or 'kamikaze' drones - can be operated by satellite. Pleasance, a foreign correspondent for the Daily Mail, said: 'While the Shahed has to be preprogrammed with a route and a target before takeoff, and cannot change course once launched, the LUCAS can. 'That's because the satellite relay at the back of the drone allows the pilot to communicate with it over huge distances, and the camera at the front allows the pilot to see what the drone is seeing.  A $35,000 LUCAS (Low-cost, Uncrewed Combat Attack System) drone sits on its launcher  A US LUCAS drone (top right) closes in on its target below - an enemy shelter in Iraq As the drone hits the building with its 40lb warhead, the roof explodes outwards into a fireball 'That means they can scan the battlefield for new targets, once LUCAS is in the air, and input new directions if they see something that's worth attacking more than the original target.  'Equally, it means the LUCAS can also hit moving targets, like tanks. If the drone arrives at its target destination and the tank has moved, the pilot can simply steer the drone towards it.  'But perhaps most significantly, this satellite relay also allows the LUCAS drone to talk to other nearby LUCAS drones. This allows the drones to coordinate with one another as part of a swarm, and it makes them way more powerful.' LUCAS is 10 feet long, with a wingspan of eight feet, making it slightly smaller than the Shahed 136. It has a top speed of 115mph and a range of only 500 miles, compared to 125mph and 1,500 miles for the Iranian model.  But at 180lbs fully loaded, the US model is much lighter, quieter and possesses a degree of versatility that the Shahed lacks. As well as its ability to be piloted after takeoff, the LUCAS's 40lb warhead can also be swapped out for surveillance or jamming equipment.  Plesance said: 'Up the front is the payload. This can be filled with 40 pounds of high explosive, which is designed to blow up whatever the drone flies into.  In the latest episode of War on Tape, foreign correspondent Chris Pleasance explores the US's new LUCAS drones - their version of Iran's fearsome Shaded aerial vehicles  US servicemen seen loading a LUCAS (Low-cost, Uncrewed Combat Attack System) on to its launcher LUCAS drones on the tarmac at a base in the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) operating area on Novemver 23, 2025 'But it can also be swapped out for surveillance sensors to spy on enemies or electronic warfare equipment to mess with their electrics, another big difference with the Shahed.  'And then in the nose of the LUCAS drone, we have a camera attached to a gimbal. This allows the camera to spin through 360 degrees.' The US has been unusually explicit about how directly LUCAS has borrowed from the technical specifications of drones in the specifications of the LUCAS. Admiral Brad Cooper, of US Central Command (CENTCOM), who has been commanding US forces in Iran, said the aerial vehicles can already achieved 'massive effects'. He said: 'US Central Command's drone task force, called Task Force Scorpion, struck launched countless one way attack drones, achieving massive effects.  'LUCAS [has been] indispensable, as many of you know, and if you don't know, this was an original Iranian drone design.  'We captured it, pulled the guts out, sent it back to America, put a little Made In America on it, brought it back here, and we're shooting them at the Iranians.' While much was made early in the Iran conflict about the Islamic Republic's drones forcing Israel and neighbouring countries to exhaust their supplies of expensive anti-missile ballistics, Pleasance believes the LUCAS drone may give the US a significant boost in their military campaign.  'The LUCAS isn't so much a replacement for America's missiles as it is a compliment to them, because they're cheap and much easier to make than a missile,' he said.  'The drones can be deployed against low value targets within short or medium ranges, perhaps not the main headquarters of the Iranian army, but a field barracks, an ammo dump or a vehicle workshop.  'Destroying these targets might not cripple an adversary, but it will introduce friction to their battle plans, like throwing sand in the gears of a complex machine.' Watch the full breakdown of the US's use of LUCAS drones in the Iran war by subscribing to the Daily Mail World YouTube channel.  No comments have so far been submitted. 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