On July 16, the U.S. Department of Defense revealed a new low-cost combat drone designed to rival Iran’s infamous Shahed-136 loitering munition.
The new system, called LUCAS (Low-cost Unmanned Combat Air System), was presented by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth during a Pentagon demonstration featuring multiple autonomous platforms.
Developed by Arizona-based SpektreWorks, LUCAS is a single-use drone intended for rapid deployment in contested environments, particularly across the Indo-Pacific. The company describes it as a reliable and cost-effective Category 3 unmanned aircraft with low logistical needs. Its open-architecture design supports a range of payloads for reconnaissance, attack, and communications support.
LUCAS can be launched via rocket-assisted takeoff (RATO) or from trucks, eliminating the need for special ground crews. It supports one-way strike missions and autonomous swarm operations, providing significantly cheaper networked attack capabilities compared to conventional systems.