LUCAS offensive drones — reverse engineered from the Iranian Shahed-136 — were introduced to combat in Operation Epic Fury, according to U.S. Central Command. (U.S. Central Command)
The military plans to establish a multinational unit of one-way attack drones, U.S. Central Command announced Thursday.
“Task Force Falcon Strike will expand on Scorpion Strike’s success given the tremendous innovation happening among our regional allies and partners,” Adm. Brad Cooper, CENTCOM commander, said in a statement. “Integrating and deploying our new capabilities together will help us rapidly realize the new possibilities that are on the horizon.”
Task Force Falcon Strike will be the first multidomain, multinational unit dedicated to one-way attack drones operating in the air, on the sea surface, and underwater, according to the combatant command.
CENTCOM oversees U.S. operations in the Middle East. It has initiated the process of consulting with and inviting regional partners into the task force.
For the past year, CENTCOM has been working to quickly get drones and cutting-edge technology to troops.
The combatant command in December announced that an American squadron made up of one-way attack drones designed to rival an infamous Iranian counterpart was sent to the Middle East.
Task Force Scorpion Strike was established in response to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s call for rapid acquisition of affordable drone technology.
The announcement of the new squadron at the time came hours after the Pentagon unveiled a multiyear, $1 billion initiative to acquire hundreds of thousands of low-cost, one-way attack drones.
CENTCOM in September announced the development of The Rapid Employment Joint Task Force, or REJTF, to fast-track processes for outfitting deployed forces with new technology.
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