A LUCAS one-way attack drone is launched from the flight deck of the USS Santa Barbara in the Persian Gulf on Dec. 16, 2025. Naval officials called the event a "significant milestone," saying it was the first time a LUCAS drone was launched from a ship at sea. (Kayla Mc Guire/U.S. Navy)
A Navy warship’s successful launch of a one-way attack drone this week was a watershed in the Defense Department push to get hundreds of thousands of the transformational aircraft into the field, according to the service.
The LUCAS drone was deployed Tuesday from the littoral combat ship USS Santa Barbara in the Persian Gulf in what was the first launch of the unmanned system from a ship at sea, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command said in a statement Wednesday.
U.S. Central Command assigned the drone to Task Force Scorpion Strike, a unit created to develop and deploy one-way attack drones at scale. The task force, based in the Middle East, works to deliver autonomous strike capabilities to deployed forces.
“This achievement demonstrates the power of innovation and joint collaboration in this critical region,” Vice Adm. Curt Renshaw, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/U.S. 5th Fleet, said in the statement.
The launch was a “significant milestone,” Renshaw added.
Earlier this month, CENTCOM announced the deployment of the military’s first operational squadron built around one-way attack drones.
LUCAS is an abbreviation for low-cost unmanned combat attack system. The drones have an extensive range and are designed to operate autonomously, CENTCOM said.
They can be launched in various ways, including ship-based means, catapults and platforms mounted on the ground or a vehicle.
The one-way attack drones recently deployed by U.S. forces are meant to act as a foil to an Iranian model known as the Shahed, which has wreaked havoc on the battlefield in Ukraine and has been employed by Iran-backed militias throughout the region.
Earlier this year, the Air Force asked manufacturers to make a handful of exact replicas of the Shahed to assist in testing and training.
LUCAS was developed by Arizona-based defense contractor SpektreWorks and is designed for long-range, autonomous missions.
The aircraft is being introduced amid a broader U.S. military initiative to scale up use of low-cost unmanned strike systems. The intent is to increase operational flexibility and reduce production timelines and unit costs, defense officials say.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last month announced a $1 billion, multiyear drone buy that will require manufacturers to compete against one another in “gauntlet” challenges to procure drone contracts.
On Wednesday, DOD published its initial request for solutions outlining the parameters of the first challenge, scheduled for February.
Military operations will run a number of tests on the vendors’ UAVs and grade them on their ability to locate targets, according to the RFS.
The launch from Santa Barbara was handled by Task Force 59, a Navy unit focused on integrating drones into fleet operations. The task force has overseen a series of tests and demonstrations involving unmanned platforms in the Middle East.
NAVCENT did not say whether the drone carried a live payload during the launch.
Stars and Stripes reporter Lara Korte contributed to this story.
