US struck Iran with copies of its own drones
- Reference: 1772479035
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2026/03/02/us_iran_clone_drones/
- Source link:
When Operation Epic Fury began on the morning of February 28, involved in the action was Task Force Scorpion Strike, the US military's first one-way-attack drone squadron, based in the Middle East.
US Central Command, part of the Department of Defense (DoD) responsible for directing military operations across the Middle East and Central/South Asia, disclosed the unit's involvement in a [1]press release .
[2]
"The first hours of the operation included precision munitions launched from air, land, and sea. Additionally, CENTCOM's Task Force Scorpion Strike employed low-cost one-way attack drones for the first time in combat," it stated.
[3]
[4]
Task Force Scorpion Strike (TFSS) was only [5]announced in December , when it was said to have formed up with a squadron of Low-cost Unmanned Combat Attack System (LUCAS) drones.
These "have an extensive range and are designed to operate autonomously. They can be launched with different mechanisms to include catapults, rocket-assisted takeoff, and mobile ground and vehicle systems," CENTCOM said at the time.
[6]
According to [7]CNN , the LUCAS drones were developed after technicians reverse-engineered a Shahed 136 drone from Iran, which the US captured a few years ago.
[8]Iran all but vanishes from the global internet amid US-Israel strikes
[9]UK Businesses told to brace cyber defenses amid Iran conflict risk
[10]Scammers try to SIM-swap Dubai citizens hours after Iranian missile strikes
[11]AWS Middle East disrupted after 'objects struck datacenter' amid Iran war
It is reported that each LUCAS drone costs approximately $35,000, making it significantly cheaper than other US long-range weapons such as Tomahawk cruise missiles, which cost about $1.3 million apiece.
We find it difficult to believe that the US couldn't have developed its own one-way attack drone, so perhaps it was just more cost-effective to copy what was already known to work?
The LUCAS drone is about 10 feet long and has a wingspan of eight feet, and is [12]said to have been developed by Arizona-based [13]SpektreWorks in cooperation with the US military. The company lists a very similar drone, the FLM 136, on its website, which has a range of 444 nautical miles at a cruising speed of 74 knots.
Ironically, Iranian targets will have been destroyed using drones almost identical to those designed by the country's own engineers. Iran has also [14]exported these drones to Russia to use mercilessly against Ukrainian civilians in the ongoing war in that country. ®
Get our [15]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.centcom.mil/MEDIA/PRESS-RELEASES/Press-Release-View/Article/4418396/us-forces-launch-operation-epic-fury/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aaYWkH4BWxDLRBZgi0B6VAAAAAg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aaYWkH4BWxDLRBZgi0B6VAAAAAg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aaYWkH4BWxDLRBZgi0B6VAAAAAg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://www.centcom.mil/MEDIA/PRESS-RELEASES/Press-Release-View/Article/4347030/us-launches-one-way-attack-drone-force-in-the-middle-east/
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aaYWkH4BWxDLRBZgi0B6VAAAAAg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://edition.cnn.com/2025/12/03/politics/drones-us-iran-middle-east
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2026/03/02/iran_internet_blackout/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2026/03/02/ncsc_security_iran/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2026/03/02/dubai_iran_sim_swap/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2026/03/01/asia_tech_news_roundup/
[12] https://www.twz.com/air/u-s-deploys-shahed-136-clones-to-middle-east-as-a-warning-to-iran
[13] https://spektreworks.com/
[14] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-63294698
[15] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Proof this was long planned
At least the press isn't droning about Epstein anymore and that the files with Trump have gone missing.
Re: Proof this was long planned
Though it does seem a bit of an over reaction just to deflect attention away from Epstein ...
Re: Proof this was long planned
He tried with declassifying aliens stuff but somehow it was a damp squib.
But given that Krasnov is in Putin's pocket, the war with Iran plays into Russian hands very well. India is already considering resuming buying oil from Russia and with prices likely going up, Krasnov got himself few weeks off the hook and his master happy.
Re: Proof this was long planned
I think it is unlikely that the Pentagon has not considered the medium term impact on the global oil trade. 20% of that trade runs through the Strait of Hormuz.
So, either the US expects the Strait to re-open within a few weeks or they have a plan B. It seems absurd to imagine that the current Iranian regime would tolerate plan A so regime change would be necessary for that to happen. Plan B involves finding 20% of the world's oil requirements in a space of weeks. Of course, Venezuela is now "friendly" but it seems unlikely that it could ramp up in just a few weeks.
I conclude that the Pentagon planners are going for plan A and regime change is now an essential part of the US strategy, whatever they might be saying in public.
Re: Proof this was long planned
Pentagon is also compromised. For sure they considered how it will benefit Putin.
Re: Proof this was long planned
The regime that needs changing is the Trump regime. Ask Canada. Ask Denmark.
This is just another oil war started by the USA.
Re: Proof this was long planned
I'm sure the Pentagon gave all of their detailed reports of all the different wargamed scenarios they've carried out over the years to Trump, who reads them all of them back to back and carefully deliberates the best course of action before taking a decision.
The MAGA faithful
Call it Operation Epstein Fury. That should give you a clue that only the most sycophantic Trump suppprters think it's great to go after Iran for not being grateful for the 10 years of uranium enrichment Trump gave them when in 2016 he tore up the 2015 agreement, and that only recently wanted them to sign back up to.
No doubt Eric & Trump jr, patiots that they are like Daddy Bone Spurs, are.on their way to the military recuitment center to enlist.
Re: Proof this was long planned
I think you'll find it's been in the planning stage since Jimmy Carter was president ....
Re: Proof this was long planned
The military has plans for everything. They are constantly making and updating plans. That is what the Pentagon does. Having s good plan ready does not mean that war is imminent - it just means that they are prepared.
Re: Proof this was long planned
> The military has plans for everything
It sort of comes and goes:
2017: [1]What Happens If Hostile Aliens Attack? The US Military Has a Team in Place
2024: [2]Watchdog warns the US has no planes to defend against alien invasion despite UFO influx
2026: [3]Trump directs US government to prepare release of files on aliens and UFOs
(Latest news: Trump has finally seen some of the material that he has ordered to be released, along with the DoW's current plans; suddenly needing to take the public's eyes away from the alien preparedness issue...)
[1] https://bigthink.com/politics-current-affairs/what-happens-if-hostile-aliens-attack-the-us-military-has-a-team-in-place-2/
[2] https://www.the-express.com/news/us-news/126223/us-alien-invasion-ufo-latest
[3] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4g57gqqln1o
I'll have what she's having
"We find it difficult to believe that the US couldn't have developed its own one-way attack drone, so perhaps it was just more cost-effective to copy what was already known to work?"
You hit the nail on the head there. The usual suspects would have charged $billions and it would have ended up including a holographic projector to disguise itself by the time everyone had had their say. Much easier to point at an existing model and say "give us some of them". The Iranians gave them the specification.
Re: I'll have what she's having
I think the real reason might be that if Iran were to capture one of these drones, they wouldn't learn anything from it.
Re: I'll have what she's having
When they see one flying overhead how do they know whose it is? Either they let some US ones through or take down some of their own.
Re: I'll have what she's having
I thought I saw quotes in the press around the time the Ukraine War started that Shaheds cost only about $20,000 per when Russia buys them from Iran. Yet the U.S. reverse-engineered version costs $35,000. So yeah, it's cheaper than a $1.5 million Tomahawk, but still its seems the Military-Industrial Complex is ripping U.S. taxpayers off.
Actually the US has lots of those kind of lower cost things in service, including glide bombs that you can toss out the back of a C130 and rocket launched glide bombs. Nuff sed.
I remember putting hand grenades in styrofoam cups.
Peace Prize
Will Gianni Infantino be asking Trump to return the FIFA Peace Prize?
Re: Peace Prize
Several people have remarked on the phrase "bored of peace" as Trump's problem. The 25 countries signed up for the "Board of Peace" might be having second thoughts, yes?
But the simplest reaction ought to be "Oh, that's why they renamed it to the Department of War!"
Well, the circle is complete, or almost...
1980s: Germany's Dornier DAR (Die Drohne Antiradar) > Israel's IAI Harpy > South Africa's Kentron ARD-10 during the Border War > design data sold to Israel = all proud parents of the Shahed-131/136 (possibly spawned from either Chinese units - that Israel exported to China - or captured Israeli ones) > LUCAAASSS !!!
So what's the difference between a cruise missile and a "suicide drone"?
Speed? Manoeuverability? Human in the loop control?
Re: So what's the difference between a cruise missile and a "suicide drone"?
The missile isn't a suicide missile.
Re: So what's the difference between a cruise missile and a "suicide drone"?
The rocket engine, I assume?
Re: So what's the difference between a cruise missile and a "suicide drone"?
The difference is in the background of the news reporter. Legally, a UAV with a range over 300 km is a Class 1 missile.
Re: So what's the difference between a cruise missile and a "suicide drone"?
Drone's can be used for recon or hitting something, missiles are only used to hit something - rendering suicide moot
After Trump's complaints about foreign states stealing American IP
We WILL be seeing the US paying proper licence fees to the Iranians for these designs, won't we?
Re: After Trump's complaints about foreign states stealing American IP
don't the Trumpistanis have laws against reverse engineering?
I thought it was called Operation Epstein’s Fury.
Proof this was long planned
The USA didn't start this war based on negotiations which broke down.
It's another in the USA's long list of wars it started.