The Army’s Plan For Employing LUCAS Kamikaze Drones Against Its Adversaries

By Joseph Trevithick , Howard Altman

Published Oct 16, 2026 3:20 PM EDT

America’s adoption of long-range one-way attack munitions like the Low-Cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System (LUCAS) is evolving quickly . Training on how to fold these relatively low-cost, but potentially highly destructive systems into a joint force playbook for targeting adversaries on land and at sea, from the Pacific to Europe, and anywhere in between, continues.

How exactly LUCAS drones, and other types to come, will be used in future fights globally was highlighted during a panel at the Association of the U.S. Army’s (AUSA) main annual symposium earlier this week, at which TWZ was in attendance. The discussion was centered on how Army training is changing to meet the extreme combat demands of the future.

The U.S. military first announced it had begun fielding LUCAS, which was reverse-engineered from the Iranian-designed Shahed-136 , in December 2025. This came just months after TWZ laid out a detailed case for why the U.S. military should start acquiring Shahed-136 clones in large volumes. LUCAS made its official combat debut in the opening phases of major combat operations against Iran earlier this year. The pusher-propeller, combustion-engine-powered kamikaze drones, which are employed from static launchers that can be positioned on the ground or installed on ships, and with the help of a small rocket booster, were subsequently praised as “indispensable” by America’s top commander in the Middle East.

A LUCAS drone on a static launcher. Shield AI

With all that in mind, “long-range strike drones like LUCAS, how is that fitting into your planning and training?” our Howard Altman asked the panelists at AUSA.

“We’ve taken our Bayonet Academy, as we call it, a training area at JBLM [Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington State], and have started incorporating the employment of long-range one-way attack. Like, how do I maintain it? How do I employ it? How does that then get orchestrated in order to achieve that effect?” Maj. Gen. Bernard Harrington, head of the 7th Infantry Division, responded. “So we see that playing a key role in order to be able to achieve that effect at mass, … [and] in an affordable manner, while also being able potentially to preserve something that’s more exquisite for something that requires an exquisite munition.”

Earlier this year, the Army brought the 7th Infantry and the 1st Multi-Domain Task Force together under the umbrella of what it now calls the Multi-Domain Command-Pacific (MDC-PAC). Maj. Gen. Harrington is also now the commander of MDC-PAC, and has talked previously about how he sees uncrewed capabilities as critical to overwhelming adversaries in future conflicts. The service’s MDTFs, of which there are now four , have been at the leading edge of fielding new long-range strike and other advanced capabilities.

In his response to Altman’s question, Harrington elaborated more on how he sees long-range one-way attack munitions like LUCAS factoring specifically into future fights in the Pacific, such as one against China. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has already established extensive anti-access and area denial (A2/AD) bubbles in the Western Pacific and is continuing to expand on that strategy.

A map showing Chinese military outposts in the Spratly Islands at the southern end of the South China Sea, including those seen in the pictures in this story, as well as other non-Chinese facilities in the hotly contested region. This gives a good sense of the anti-access/area denial bubbles that China has already established and continues to expand upon. DOD

“So as we start modeling out what it looks like to be able to penetrate a portion of the anti-access/area denial network in support of the joint task force in the PACOM [U.S. Pacific Command] area of operations, we started looking at, well, how do I bend – how do I achieve mass at a cost curve?” the 7th Infantry and MDC-PAC commander explained. “What effect am I really trying to achieve on a system in order to provide that window of opportunity for that joint force commander?”

“So maybe I don’t necessarily need to sink a ship, but if I take out certain systems on that vessel, well then it creates this temporal window opportunity,” he continued. “Then that joint force commander can surge in that carrier strike group or bomber task force.”

What the general is describing here is typically referred to as a mission kill. For years now, TWZ has repeatedly highlighted how long-range one-way attack drones and loitering munitions could be used in exactly this way against even larger warships . Damaging or destroying radars, communications antennas, and other subsystems could severely degrade a ship’s combat effectiveness and increase its vulnerability to follow-on attacks. The time and effort required for repairs could keep it sidelined for a protracted period of time.

A LUCAS drone seen being launched from the stern flight deck of the US Navy’s Independence class Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) USS Santa Barbara during a test. NAVCENT/C5F/U.S. Army Spc. Kayla Mc Guire

“So when we started looking at that, we saw great value. That maybe I don’t have to use specifically or unmask an exquisite system to achieve that effect,” Harrington added. “If I can achieve [the] effect of mass utilizing lower cost systems, hey, maybe that will get me there. So we modeled that, and what we saw was, particularly with our unmanned surface vessels [USV], long-range one-way attack, long-range launch effects, the ability to synchronize and mass that could potentially get us to achieve that effect.”

As with long-range one-way attack drones, the adoption of kamikaze USVs by the U.S. military is evolving rapidly. America’s first use of this capability in real combat also came against Iran in July.

Yesterday, using multiple one-way attack surface drones, CENTCOM forces successfully struck a submarine and ship maintenance facility in Iran. Three Corsair unmanned surface vessels hit the port at Bandar Abbas Naval Base, marking the first time American forces have employed sea… pic.twitter.com/bOM2kmgRxz — U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) July 13, 2026

Yesterday, using multiple one-way attack surface drones, CENTCOM forces successfully struck a submarine and ship maintenance facility in Iran. Three Corsair unmanned surface vessels hit the port at Bandar Abbas Naval Base, marking the first time American forces have employed sea… pic.twitter.com/bOM2kmgRxz

The term “launch effects” that Harrington used here is a catch-all term the U.S. military now routinely applies to a diverse array of uncrewed aerial systems designed to be launched from other platforms in the air, on the ground , and/or at sea . This includes loitering munitions, but also designs configured for surveillance and reconnaissance, electronic warfare, signal relay, and other tasks. The lines separating long-range one-way attack drones, launched effects, and traditional cruise missiles and decoys are in many cases now very blurry .

None of this is limited to the Pacific region or the Middle East, either.

“So, in terms of launch effects, I think you mentioned LUCAS. Covenant’s out there. There’s other systems that are out there,” Brig. Gen. Steven Carpenter, head of Multi-Domain Command-Europe (MDC-E), another one of the panelists, also said in direct response to Howard Altman’s question. “In Europe, we like that, more than accepting risk in an area, maybe we’re disintegrating an anti-access/area denial bubble in the center, and then way up north, we’re going to go ahead and accept some risk there. We like to use those systems to create counter-fire parity, long-range fires parity with an adversary.”

Similar to the establishment of MDC-PAC, MDC-E was formed last year by blending together the 56th Artillery Command and the 2nd MDTF, both of which are forward-deployed in Germany.

The “Covenant” mentioned by Carpenter is a U.S.-Israeli company that has been developing a long-range strike weapon system called Anthem. It was just confirmed in September that the U.S. Army has been actively engaged in testing of Anthem. This includes a live-fire demonstration in Morocco earlier this year. You can read more about Anthem and the current plans for it here .

An example of Covenant’s Anthem long-range strike weapon, seen here being tested by the US Army. US Army

“The reason we like those types of systems is because they’re EMI [electromagnetic interference] resilient, they’re longer range, and they’re higher yield, so they can go ahead and destroy like SS-26 systems, SS-21 systems,” the MDC-E commander added.

SS-26 Stone and SS-21 Scarab are the NATO reporting names for Russia’s Iskander-M and the older Soviet-designed OTR-21 Tochka short-range ballistic missiles, respectively. They are both fired from road-mobile launchers. Russia and Ukraine have employed Tochka in the course of their ongoing conflict, though their role on both sides has steadily diminished amid shrinking inventories. Tochka is also increasingly limited in service elsewhere globally. Iskander-M is a much more capable design that has factored heavily into U.S. military planning in Europe for years now. The U.S. military has previously acknowledged that war in Ukraine has led to improvements to that missile that make it even more dangerous and difficult to intercept.

A stock picture of an Iskander-M short-range ballistic missile being fired from a road-mobile transporter-erector-launcher. Russian MoD

Long-range one-way attack munitions like LUCAS are well suited to striking surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missile launchers, along with other high-value and time-sensitive targets , as TWZ highlights regularly . It’s also worth noting that Iran’s Shahed-136, specifically, traces its roots back to pioneering Israeli developments in munitions of this kind , where the focus initially was explicitly on finding new avenues to neutralize hostile air defenses. Iran has shown Shahed-136s and other related designs being employed in exactly this way in large-scale exercises in the past, as seen in the video below.

More recently, Iranian forces demonstrated just how effective these capabilities could be in a real-world context in retaliatory attacks on prized air defense radars on the opposite side of the Persian Gulf after the United States and Israel launched their open waves of strikes back in February. TWZ previously explored the far-reaching ramifications of this in a detailed feature that you can find here .

Overall, as we’ve previously written :

“When it comes to this class of drone, speed and advanced guidance concepts do not define its utility. Range and cost do. Survivability comes in numbers, and due to their smaller size, use of composite materials, and small internal combustion engine, as well as their slow speed. These attributes, along with their low-altitude flight profile, mean they possess a reduced signature and general level of detectability that can be a challenge for traditionally configured ground-based radars. Despite their smaller signature, the fact that they are still somewhat vulnerable to interception is actually a positive, but we will get to that in a moment.”

“Above all else, the Shahed-136 and other long-range one-way attack drones exist to put a relevantly-sized warhead on a target far from their launch position at the lowest possible cost. It was previously estimated that the Russian Shahed-136 variant costs around $50,000 per copy , with some estimates being far lower. This cost has also likely declined significantly since Russia has mastered the design and drastically ramped up serial production. By comparison, traditional cruise missiles with similar range have costs in the millions of dollars per round, so the price differential is very dramatic. The Shaheds are also just far easier to build and can be produced in much less time than a typical cruise missile.”

Another look at a LUCAS long-range one-way-attack drone. Mark Schauer/US Army

The ‘mass’ afforded by LUCAS and other long-range kamikaze drones also imposes problematic cost calculations for opponents when it comes to the air defense equation, and offers a way to rapidly drain an opponent’s stocks of vital interceptors. These are realities the U.S. military is currently grappling with after expending thousands of anti-air interceptors in conflict with Iran and in other crises in the Middle East in recent years, as well as supporting allies and partners, such as Ukraine .

LUCAS, specifically, is already in line to become even more capable through the introduction of a swarming capability , made possible by the Hivemind autonomy software package from Shield AI. As we’ve explained before:

“Using the software, multiple LUCAS drones will be able to share tasks and maneuver cooperatively, making saturation attacks even more effective. As well as the drones dynamically rerouting, avoiding air defenses, and otherwise adapting to changing battlefield conditions, an AI pilot makes it easier for missions to continue despite hostile jamming or loss of datalink connectivity. Indeed, using AI, drone swarms can maintain near-perfect combat efficiency even if it loses members. Drones can be configured with all different payloads, with the swarm’s makeup tailored to each mission, and the AI system can maximize their collective effectiveness at all times.”

The U.S. Army still has many questions to answer about how it will field LUCAS and other long-range one-way-attack drones on a more widespread basis, as well as train personnel to employ them. As evidenced by the establishment of the MDTFs, and now the MDC-PAC and MDC-E formations, the underlying force structure that will go along with all of this is still evolving, as well.

The remarks from Maj. Gen. Bernard Harrington and Brig. Gen. Steven Carpenter at AUSA this week show senior Army leaders are working hard now to lay the groundwork to answer these questions. A clear vision for how LUCAS and similar weapons will be employed in future fights against land-based and maritime threats is taking shape already.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

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作者：约瑟夫·特雷维西克、霍华德·奥特曼

发布于美国东部时间2026年10月16日下午3:20

美国采用远程单向攻击弹药（例如低成本无人战斗攻击系统 (LUCAS)）的趋势正在迅速发展。如何将这些成本相对较低但潜在破坏力极强的系统融入联合部队作战手册，以打击从太平洋到欧洲以及两者之间任何区域的陆地和海上敌方目标，相关训练仍在继续。

本周早些时候，在美国陆军协会（AUSA）年度主要研讨会上，一个专题讨论会重点探讨了LUCAS无人机以及未​​来其他类型无人机将如何应用于全球范围内的战争。TWZ也出席了此次研讨会。讨论的核心是陆军训练如何变革以满足未来极端作战需求。

美国军方于2025年12月首次宣布开始部署LUCAS无人机，该无人机是根据伊朗设计的Shahed-136无人机逆向工程而来。就在几个月前，TWZ网站详细阐述了美国军方为何应该开始大量采购Shahed-136的仿制机型。LUCAS无人机于今年早些时候在针对伊朗的大规模作战行动初期正式投入实战。这种采用推进式螺旋桨和内燃机驱动的自杀式无人机，可从地面或舰载固定发射架发射，并借助小型火箭助推器进行飞行。随后，美国驻中东最高指挥官称赞LUCAS无人机“不可或缺”。

一架卢卡斯无人机架设在固定发射器上。护盾人工智能

考虑到所有这些因素，“像 LUCAS 这样的远程攻击无人机，是如何融入你们的计划和训练中的？”我们的记者霍华德·奥特曼向 AUSA 的小组成员提出了这个问题。

“我们已经把位于华盛顿州刘易斯-麦科德联合基地（JBLM）的训练区——我们称之为‘刺刀学院’——纳入了远程单向攻击的训练内容。比如，如何维持这种攻击？如何运用这种攻击？如何协调配合才能达到预期效果？”第七步兵师师长伯纳德·哈灵顿少将回应道。“因此，我们认为远程单向攻击在大规模、经济高效地实现这种攻击效果方面发挥着关键作用，同时还能将一些更精密的弹药用于需要精密弹药的作战行动。”

今年早些时候，陆军将第7步兵师和第1多域特遣部队合并，组建了现在的太平洋多域司令部（MDC-PAC）。哈灵顿少将现任MDC-PAC司令，他此前曾表示，他认为无人作战能力对于在未来的冲突中压制对手至关重要。目前陆军共有四个多域特遣部队，它们一直处于部署新型远程打击和其他先进能力的前沿。

哈灵顿在回答奥特曼的问题时，进一步阐述了他对卢卡斯等远程单向攻击弹药在未来太平洋地区（例如与中国的战争）冲突中具体作用的看法。中国人民解放军已经在西太平洋建立了广泛的反介入/区域拒止（A2/AD）防御体系，并且正在继续扩大这一战略。

这张地图显示了中国在南海南端南沙群岛的军事前哨，包括本文图片中出现的那些，以及该争议地区其他非中国的军事设施。这清晰地展现了中国已经建立并持续扩张的反介入/区域拒止圈。美国国防部

“因此，当我们开始模拟如何渗透部分反介入/区域拒止网络，以支援太平洋司令部作战区域的联合特遣部队时，我们开始考虑，如何才能在成本可控的范围内实现规模化作战？”第七步兵师和太平洋导弹防御司令部司令解释道，“我究竟想对系统产生什么影响，才能为联合部队指挥官创造那关键的作战机会？”

“所以，我或许不一定非要击沉一艘船，但如果我能摧毁那艘船上的某些系统，就能创造一个短暂的行动窗口，”他继续说道。“然后联合部队指挥官就可以迅速调集航母打击群或轰炸机特遣队。”

这位将军所描述的情况通常被称为“任务摧毁”。多年来，TWZ 反复强调远程单向攻击无人机和巡飞弹可以以这种方式攻击更大的军舰。破坏或摧毁雷达、通信天线和其他子系统会严重削弱舰艇的作战效能，并增加其遭受后续攻击的风险。维修所需的时间和精力可能会使其长时间无法作战。

在测试过程中，一架卢卡斯无人机从美国海军独立级濒海战斗舰（LCS）“圣巴巴拉”号的舰尾飞行甲板上发射升空。图片来源：NAVCENT/C5F/美国陆军下士凯拉·麦奎尔

“所以当我们开始研究这个问题时，我们看到了巨大的价值。也许我并不需要专门使用或启用一套精密的系统就能达到那种效果，”哈灵顿补充道。“如果我能利用成本更低的系统实现大规模攻击的效果，嘿，也许就能达到目的。所以我们建立了模型，我们发现，特别是对于我们的无人水面舰艇（USV）而言，远程单向攻击、远程发射以及同步和大规模攻击的能力，有可能让我们实现那种效果。”

与远程单向攻击无人机一样，美军采用神风特攻无人水面艇（USV）的进程也在迅速发展。美国首次在实战中使用这种能力也是在7月份对伊朗的战斗中。

昨天，美国中央司令部部队使用多架单向攻击水面无人机成功袭击了伊朗的一处潜艇和舰艇维修设施。三架“海盗”无人水面舰艇袭击了阿巴斯港海军基地，这是美军首次使用海上攻击…… pic.twitter.com/bOM2kmgRxz — 美国中央司令部 (@CENTCOM) 2026年7月13日

昨天，美国中央司令部部队使用多架单向攻击水面无人机成功袭击了伊朗的一处潜艇和舰艇维修设施。三架“海盗”无人水面舰艇袭击了阿巴斯港海军基地的港口，这是美军首次使用海上攻击…… pic.twitter.com/bOM2kmgRxz

哈林顿在此使用的“发射效应”一词是一个包罗万象的术语，美军现在通常将其用于指代各种各样的无人飞行系统，这些系统旨在从空中、地面和/或海上的其他平台发射。这包括巡飞弹，也包括用于监视侦察、电子战、信号中继和其他任务的飞行器。在许多情况下，远程单向攻击无人机、发射效应以及传统巡航导弹和诱饵之间的界限现在非常模糊。

这种情况并不局限于太平洋地区或中东地区。

“所以，就发射效果而言，我想你提到了卢卡斯导弹系统。盟约导弹系统也已经部署完毕。还有其他一些系统也在部署中，”多域司令部欧洲司令部（MDC-E）司令史蒂文·卡彭特准将（也是小组成员之一）在直接回答霍华德·奥特曼的问题时说道。“在欧洲，我们更喜欢这样做，而不是仅仅承担某个区域的风险，比如我们正在瓦解中部地区的反介入/区域拒止防御体系，然后在遥远的北方，我们愿意承担一些风险。我们喜欢利用这些系统与对手建立反火力均势，建立远程火力均势。”

与 MDC-PAC 的成立类似，MDC-E 于去年由第 56 炮兵司令部和第 2 MDTF 合并而成，这两个司令部都前沿部署在德国。

卡彭特提到的“Covenant”是一家美以合资公司，该公司一直在研发一种名为“圣歌”（Anthem）的远程打击武器系统。今年9月刚刚证实，美国陆军一直在积极进行“圣歌”的测试，其中包括今年早些时候在摩洛哥进行的一次实弹演示。您可以在这里阅读更多关于“圣歌”及其当前计划的信息。

这是“星盟”组织研发的远程打击武器“圣歌”的一个例子，图中所示为美国陆军正在进行测试。

MDC-E指挥官补充道：“我们喜欢这类系统的原因是它们具有抗电磁干扰能力，射程更远，威力更大，因此可以摧毁像SS-26系统、SS-21系统这样的目标。”

SS-26“石头”和SS-21“圣甲虫”分别是俄罗斯“伊斯坎德尔-M”导弹和苏联早期设计的OTR-21“圆点”短程弹道导弹的北约代号。它们均由公路机动发射车发射。俄罗斯和乌克兰在持续的冲突中都曾使用过“圆点”导弹，但随着库存的减少，其在双方的作用都在稳步下降。“圆点”导弹在全球其他地区的服役也日益受限。“伊斯坎德尔-M”导弹的性能要强大得多，多年来一直是美国在欧洲军事计划中的重要考量因素。美国军方此前承认，乌克兰战争促使该导弹进行了改进，使其更具威胁性，也更难拦截。

一张伊斯坎德尔-M短程弹道导弹从公路机动运输-起竖-发射车上发射的示意图。俄罗斯国防部

像LUCAS这样的远程单向攻击弹药非常适合打击地对地和地对空导弹发射装置，以及其他高价值且对时间要求严格的目标，正如TWZ经常强调的那样。值得注意的是，伊朗的Shahed-136导弹的研发可以追溯到以色列在该类弹药领域的开创性工作，其最初的重点是寻找新的方法来摧毁敌方防空系统。正如以下视频所示，伊朗过去曾在大规模演习中展示过Shahed-136导弹和其他相关设计的这种作战方式。

最近，伊朗军队在现实中展现了这些能力的有效性。在美以于二月份发动大规模空袭后，伊朗对波斯湾对岸的敌方重要防空雷达发动了报复性袭击。TWZ此前曾就此进行过详细报道，探讨了其深远影响，点击此处即可阅读。

总而言之，正如我们之前所写：

“对于这类无人机而言，速度和先进的制导技术并非决定其实用性的关键因素，航程和成本才是。生存能力取决于数量，而这类无人机由于体积小、采用复合材料、配备小型内燃机以及飞行速度慢等特点，其特征和低空飞行特性使其具有较低的信号特征和探测难度，这对传统的地面雷达来说是一个挑战。尽管信号特征较小，但它们仍然有一定的拦截风险，这实际上是一种优势，我们稍后会详细讨论这一点。”

“最重要的是，沙赫德-136和其他远程单向攻击无人机的存在是为了以尽可能低的成本，将一枚威力合适的弹头投放到远离发射位置的目标上。此前估计，俄罗斯沙赫德-136的单价约为5万美元，甚至有些估计值更低。随着俄罗斯掌握了该设计并大幅提高了批量生产能力，其成本可能已经显著下降。相比之下，射程相近的传统巡航导弹单价高达数百万美元，因此价格差异非常显著。此外，沙赫德无人机的制造难度也远低于传统巡航导弹，生产周期也更短。”

再来看看LUCAS远程单向攻击无人机。图片来源：马克·绍尔/美国陆军

LUCAS和其他远程自杀式无人机的“质量”优势，也给对手在防空计算中带来了棘手的成本问题，并提供了一种迅速消耗对手关键拦截机库存的途径。近年来，美国军方在与伊朗的冲突以及中东其他危机中，以及在支持乌克兰等盟友和伙伴的过程中，已经消耗了数千架防空拦截机，如今正努力应对这些现实问题。

具体来说，LUCAS 已经有望通过引入集群能力而变得更加强大，而集群能力的实现得益于 Shield AI 的 Hivemind 自主软件套件。正如我们之前解释过的：

“借助该软件，多架LUCAS无人机能够共享任务并协同作战，从而显著提升饱和攻击的有效性。除了无人机能够动态重新规划航线、规避防空系统以及适应不断变化的战场环境外，人工智能飞行员还能确保任务在遭受敌方干扰或数据链路中断的情况下也能顺利进行。事实上，借助人工智能，即使无人机群损失部分成员，也能保持近乎完美的作战效率。无人机可以配置各种不同的有效载荷，无人机群的组成也可以根据每次任务进行定制，而人工智能系统则能始终最大限度地发挥它们的集体效能。”

美国陆军在如何更广泛地部署LUCAS和其他远程单向攻击无人机，以及如何训练人员使用这些无人机方面，仍有许多问题需要解答。正如多国联合特遣部队（MDTF）以及现在的太平洋多国联合司令部（MDC-PAC）和东部多国联合司令部（MDC-E）的建立所表明的那样，与之配套的部队结构也仍在不断演变。

本周，伯纳德·哈灵顿少将和史蒂文·卡彭特准将在美国陆军协会（AUSA）会议上的讲话表明，陆军高级领导人正在努力为解答这些问题奠定基础。关于如何将LUCAS及类似武器用于未来打击陆基和海上威胁的清晰愿景已初见端倪。

联系作者：joe@twz.com

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