"Vice Adm. Curt Renshaw, the head of US Naval Forces Central Command, said the "first successful launch of LUCAS from a naval vessel marks a significant milestone in rapidly delivering affordable and effective" drones to American military personnel. The drone launched from the Santa Barbara belonged to a new squadron based in the Middle East that operates the LUCAS systems, one-way attack drones that resemble the Iranian-designed Shahed-136 widely used by Russia in attacks against Ukraine."
"LUCAS, developed by the American engineering firm SpektreWorks, has an "extensive" range, can be launched by catapults and from vehicles and mobile ground stations, and has rocket-assisted takeoff capabilities. The system's classification as a one-way attack drone, also known as a loitering munition, indicates that LUCAS can remain airborne in a target area for a period before diving down at its target and detonating."
A US Navy Independence-class littoral combat ship, USS Santa Barbara, launched a Low-cost Unmanned Combat Attack System (LUCAS) loitering munition in the Arabian Gulf. The launch marked the first at-sea deployment of a one-way attack drone by the US military. The drone belonged to a newly based squadron in the Middle East and resembles the Iranian-designed Shahed-136. LUCAS, developed by SpektreWorks, has extensive range, catapult and vehicle launch options, mobile ground station launches, and rocket-assisted takeoff. The platform can loiter over a target area before diving to detonate, supporting rapid, lower-cost strike capability.
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