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(Photo credit: Central Command)
In a important escalation of its drone warfare capabilities, the United States turned Iran's ain drone strategy against it, deploying its caller low-cost, one-way onslaught drone, the Low-cost Unmanned Combat Attack System (LUCAS), for the archetypal clip during coordinated strikes with Israel nether Operation Epic Fury.The coordinated strikes connected Iran orchestrated by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu connected Saturday targeted cardinal Iranian subject assets and resulted successful the sidesplitting of Tehran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.The cognition saw US and Israeli forces unleash a premix of precocious and cost-effective weaponry, combining next-generation combatant jets and long-range cruise missiles with low-cost autonomous drones, marking a crisp escalation successful some standard and strategy.
Alongside the recently deployed LUCAS drones, the ngo progressive Tomahawk cruise missiles and precocious combatant aircraft, including the F/A-18 and F-35 jets. US Central Command (CENTCOM) aboriginal released photographs showing Tomahawk missiles and combatant craft progressive successful the operation.
First combat usage of LUCAS drone
As portion of Operation Epic Fury, the US subject fielded the Low-cost Unmanned Combat Attack System (LUCAS), a one-way "kamikaze" drone reverse-engineered from Iran’s Shahed-136 platform.
"For the archetypal clip successful past is utilizing one-way onslaught drones successful combat during Operation Epic Fury. These low-cost drones, modeled aft Iran's Shahed drones, are present delivering American-made retribution,” CENTCOM announced connected X.
What is LUCAS?
According to the Pentagon, the drones utilized successful the onslaught look identical to the LUCAS strategy manufactured by Spektreworks, a Phoenix, Arizona-based company, Reuters reported.Designed arsenic a low-cost, expendable system, LUCAS is intended for large-scale accumulation by aggregate manufacturers.Each portion costs astir $35,000, making it importantly cheaper than galore accepted precision weapons.The increasing reliance connected specified drones reflects a broader subject displacement toward what officials picture arsenic "affordable mass” deploying ample numbers of comparatively inexpensive weapons to overwhelm adversaries. The strategy gained prominence pursuing Russia’s penetration of Ukraine, which highlighted the battlefield effectiveness of drones.CENTCOM said Operation Epic Fury targeted Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps command-and-control facilities, Iranian aerial defence systems, rocket and drone motorboat sites and subject airfields.
Tomahawk cruise missiles deployed
The strikes besides featured Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles, long-range, precision-guided cruise missiles typically launched from sea-based platforms for deep-strike missions.The Tomahawk tin onslaught targets up to 1,000 miles (1,600 km) away, including successful heavy defended airspace. It measures astir 20 feet (6.1 meters) successful length, has an 8.5-foot wingspan, and weighs astir 3,330 pounds (1,510 kg).According to Pentagon fund documents, the US plans to acquisition 57 Tomahawk missiles successful 2026 astatine an mean outgo of astir $1.3 cardinal each. Tomahawks person antecedently been utilized successful operational settings, including strikes by US and UK naval forces connected Houthi targets successful Yemen.
Fighter jets successful action
The F-35, a fifth-generation stealth fighter, is designed to evade radar detection portion carrying precision-guided munitions.
It tin deploy a scope of missiles, including those susceptible of targeting and destroying force radar systems.The F/A-18, manufactured by Boeing, is simply a multi-role craft susceptible of conducting some air-to-air and air-to-ground missions, carrying assorted bombs and missiles.The United States has deployed F-35s extensively crossed the Middle East, and the craft is besides operated by the Israeli Air Force.
