Once viewed with skepticism, Iran’s Shahed-136 kamikaze drone has reshaped global perceptions through its low-cost, long-range design and its proven effectiveness in swarms. All three big military powers, Russia, the United States, and China, were so impressed by the drone’s efficacy that they developed their own versions of the UAV.
The US Department of Defense (DoD) unveiled the Low-Cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System (LUCAS), a surprising replica of the Iranian Shahed-136, on July 16, 2025.
The drone is developed by Spectreworks, based in Arizona, and has been designed to counter the escalating threats posed by loitering munitions, the DoD said at the time.
The drone was surprisingly deployed to the Middle East earlier this month, following the establishment of the Task Force Scorpion Strike (TFSS), the US military’s first one-way attack drone squadron based in the Middle East.
The TFSS has reportedly formed a squadron in the Middle East that will use the LUCAS.
The US Navy’s strategy to shift to unmanned crewed systems took a significant turn on December 16, 2025, when the US Navy troops in the Middle East test-launched a LUCAS kamikaze drone from the Independence-class Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) USS Santa Barbara.
The launch was carried out by Task Force 59 of US Naval Forces Central Command, the maritime component of US 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. This achievement demonstrates the power of innovation and joint collaboration in this critical region,” Vice Adm. Curt Renshaw, commander of NAVCENT/C5F, said in a press statement.
"Bravo Zulu. U.S. Navy forces in the Middle East are advancing warfighting capability in new ways, bringing more striking power from the sea and setting conditions for using innovation as a deterrent." – Adm. Brad Cooper, CENTCOM Commander https://t.co/TgQ4WLbph3 pic.twitter.com/WUiAVojTht
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) December 18, 2025
The specific details of the capabilities validated during the test, such as the distance flown by LUCAS, whether it was a controlled or directed flight, and whether the kamikaze drone struck a mock target, were not disclosed. However, CENTCOM referred to the test launch as “one of its kind” milestone.
The ability to deploy a drone from a surface ship adds more layers of defence, in addition to improving strike, electronic warfare, intelligence-gathering, and networking capabilities.
In fact, analysts have emphasized that, with modern combat pivoting towards drones, filling vertical launch cells (VLS) with cost-effective drones rather than millions of dollars’ worth of missiles might make more sense in the prevailing atmosphere.
Drones launched from warships can attack far-off coastal targets, enemy vessels, or infrastructure without endangering the ship by extending the effective strike range beyond the ship’s own weaponry.
Moreover, ship-based deployment “drastically opens the aperture” for swarm strikes by enabling coordinated barrages from mobile sea platforms rather than from permanent land bases. This would be particularly valuable in contested locations like the Red Sea, where adversaries such as the Houthis use similar drones.
In fact, this might explain the testing location and the task force in the Middle East.
LUCAS was developed after developers reverse-engineered a Shahed drone from Iran, which the US had managed to capture in the past, a US defense official said.
LUCAS drones have long range, are designed to operate independently, and provide a scalable, affordable option for tactical drone warfare. Besides being launched from ships, LUCAS accommodates launch methods LIKE Rocket-Assisted Take-Off (RATO) and truck-based deployment, thereby facilitating rapid utilisation by personnel with limited specialisation.
With a wingspan of 8 feet and a length of about 10 feet, the LUCAS drone is a delta-winged triangle. Long-range loitering is optimized by its delta-wing shape.
Its engineering and adaptability, however, are very different. In contrast to the Shahed’s four-cylinder Limbach L550E clone, the LUCAS’s two-cylinder DA-215 engine (215 cm³) offers better fuel economy and a lower noise profile.
One major difference between the Shahed-136 and the LUCAS is that, unlike the single-use Shahed-136, LUCAS can be reused in specific configurations, such as reconnaissance missions, thereby improving its cost efficiency. However, like the Shahed-136, LUCAS is a low-cost platform, costing about USD 35,000 per unit.
Its Multi-domain Unmanned Systems Communications (MUSIC) mesh network reportedly enables autonomous swarm operations and network-centric strikes.
Furthermore, this network enables LUCAS to function as a communication relay, an essential capability in contested areas where traditional communication lines may be disrupted. It supports a variety of payloads and runs on 28V and 12V power sources.
The latest test launch of LUCAS also aligns with suggestions in a leaked Pentagon think tank document, which calls for the US military to invest in and adopt unmanned systems instead of developing expensive, complex platforms like aircraft carriers.
Russia And China Both Have Their Own Shahed
Russia began importing Shahed-136 loitering munitions from Iran in 2022 and started to rebrand them as Geran-2 to obscure their origin while deploying them extensively against Ukrainian cities and infrastructure.
Their deployment tilted the war in Russia’s favour and helped strike big blows to Ukraine.
Russia began local production of the drone at the Alabuga Special Economic Zone in Tatarstan. It rapidly scaled the production since, and the monthly output has now exceeded 5,000.
The kamikaze drones provide Russia with an expendable and cost-effective alternative to its expensive cruise and ballistic missiles. The idea behind deploying them in large numbers is that even if these drones are shot down, they would still deplete Ukraine’s stockpile of expensive surface-to-air missiles (SAMs).
While Russia’s use of Shahed-class drones is widely documented, interestingly, China is not behind either.
In 2023, videos of a Chinese version of Iran’s famous Shahed-136 kamikaze drone, the Sunflower-200, being tested at firing ranges in China surfaced on social media, as reported by the EurAsian Times.
The Sunflower-200 was first unveiled at the latest Armiya-2023 exhibition in Russia, with a shape strikingly similar to the Shahed. The images and videos demonstrated that the Sunflower-200 is a replica of the Shahed-136, with comparable features and intended uses.
#China Has 'Unveiled' Its Own Version Of Shahed-136 Suicide Drone – Sunflower-200! #Iran #Ukraine #Iraq #Pentagon pic.twitter.com/qLJQ3gsNRT
— EurAsian Times (@THEEURASIATIMES) September 12, 2023
In one video, a rocket booster abruptly expelled the aircraft from a rail launch platform, causing it to fall off. Another video showed the drone launched similarly from an airfield on a large mountain overlooking a valley.
It then nosedived and struck a target on the ground. These were test videos made by the Chinese manufacturer to advertise their product on social media. Both videos were posted to Telegram with a message that read, “Some beauty from Chinese manufacturers. Orders are accepted.”
The Sunflower-200 is also declared to have a 3.2 meters (10-foot) long fuselage, a 2.5 meter (8 feet) wingspan, and a warhead of 40 kg. Different sources mention the attack range of 1,500 or 2,000 kilometers, while the cruising speed ranges from 160 to 220 kilometers/hour. Interestingly, these specifications are similar to those of Shahed-136, which also carries the name Geran-2 in Russia.
What Is So Special About The Shahed?
The Shahed-136, an Iranian-designed loitering munition (kamikaze drone), has seen widespread replication due to its proven battlefield performance, particularly in the Russia-Ukraine war since 2022. Its success in overwhelming air defenses through massed, low-cost attacks has prompted countries to replicate the drone.
The drone’s ingenuity lies in its simple, affordable design rather than cutting-edge tech, making it ideal for mass production and swarm tactics.
It can travel long distances—about 2,000 to 2,500 kilometres, launching devastating strikes behind enemy lines. It has a speed of about 180-185 kilometres per hour, which makes this slow-moving aerial object much harder to intercept.
It could carry a 40–50 kg high-explosive warhead, as seen in the initial days of the Ukraine conflict, but the payload capacity can be increased.
The drone is estimated to cost $20,000–$50,000 per unit, significantly cheaper than cruise missiles like the Tomahawk. This allows adversaries to expend expensive interceptors, such as Patriot interceptors, on cheap threats. Thus, creating a painful price differential.
The Shahed-136 drone operates autonomously, meaning it does not require real-time human control after launch. It relies on basic waypoint navigation but remains vulnerable to electronic warfare (EW) techniques such as GPS spoofing or jamming. In fact, Russia’s upgrades to the drone have given others a blueprint for modifying their Shahed replicas.
Russia has upgraded the Geran-2 to feature heavier warheads, improved electronics, modular fuselages, and advanced guidance like 4G modems. These drones now have cameras for real-time control and are painted black for nighttime operations. And, they are now carrying the Soviet-era R-60 air-to-air missiles.
These low-cost drones enable swarm tactics, often combined with decoys, to overwhelm enemy defenses despite high interception rates. Additionally, Russia has reportedly fielded a jet-powered variant of the Shahed-136 or Geran-2, known as the Shahed-236.
The Ukrainian engineers claimed earlier this year that since the latest Shahed variants no longer rely on GPS, they have become impervious to Ukraine’s electronic warfare capabilities. Instead, they have found a way to leverage AI and Ukraine’s mobile internet networks.
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