US Navy test launches replication of Iranian drone Shahed-136
The US Navy has carried out a test launch of a replica of Iran’s Shahed-136 loitering munition, a move widely seen as a tacit recognition of Tehran’s lead in the design and deployment of attack drones.
The Independence-class littoral combat ship USS Santa Barbara (LCS-32), currently operating in the Persian Gulf, launched the replica of Shahed-136, a small piston-engined one-way attack drone, from its helicopter deck on Tuesday.
The American drone, known as a Low-cost Unmanned Combat Attack System (LUCAS), was developed by the US firm SpektreWorks.
The reverse-engineered and scaled-down copy of the high-volume Iranian original was prepared and dispatched by a specialized drone squadron, "Task Force Scorpion Strike," which is assigned to introduce new unmanned systems to Central Command.
“This first successful launch of LUCAS from a naval vessel marks a significant milestone in rapidly delivering affordable and effective unmanned capabilities to the warfighter,” Vice Adm. Curt Renshaw, commander of the Navy's West Asia-focused Fifth Fleet, said in a statement.
Like the original Shahed, LUCAS has a long operational range and can be launched in multiple ways from multiple platforms, including ships, vehicles, and mobile ground stations
The Pentagon finds the Shahed, which has rocket-assisted takeoff capabilities, appealing primarily due to its simplicity and manufacturability.
Known as a loitering munition, the drone can remain airborne over a target for a period before striking and detonating.
The spokesman for the Iranian Armed Forces has said the replication of Shahed-136 drone by the United States validates the growing global recognition of the Islamic Republic’s superiority in the development of unmanned aerial vehicles.
Brigadier General Abolfazl Shekarchi stated earlier this month that the decision by countries that portray themselves as frontrunners in military technology, particularly the United States, to reverse-engineer the Iranian kamikaze drone reflects the scale of the country’s technological advances.
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