US Army outlines plan for LUCAS kamikaze drones against ships and missiles

The US Army detailed its concept for long-range LUCAS attack drones, reverse-engineered from Iran's Shahed-136, at the AUSA symposium in October. The plan calls for massed, low-cost strikes on warship radars and communications and on mobile missile launchers, with swarming enabled by Shield AI's Hivemind software.

• LUCAS is a long-range one-way attack drone reverse-engineered from Shahed-136
• It made its combat debut in operations against Iran in 2026
• Concept targets mission kills: disabling ship radar and communications
• Swarming capability will come from Shield AI's Hivemind software