O 136 It is distinguished by its relatively low price (especially compared to that of a ballistic missile) and ease of production, but also by its noise and some slowness, which does not make it any less dangerous. Since February 28, Iran has resorted to these drones suicide bombers to attack US military bases, hotels, airports, embassies and consulates, as well as oil and gas infrastructure in several Gulf countries and beyond.
But it is not just Tehran who is using drones disposable in this conflict. Just six months after it was revealed by the Pentagon, the US debuted LUCAS (the acronym for Low-Cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System) during attacks against Iran. Inspired not Shahedas the US Central Command itself announced, LUCAS can be launched from a truck or a ship and costs $35,000 per unit (but the Pentagon hopes to reduce that to $5,000 each), far from the 20 to 40 million of an MQ‑9 Reaper, which is, however, reusable and more sophisticated.
As Patrycja Bazylczyk, an analyst at the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, explained to CNBC, these drones “They force adversaries to waste expensive interceptors on low-cost devices, project power and create a constant psychological burden on civilian populations.” Experts may call it “the poor man’s cruise missile,” but drones have undoubtedly earned their place in the wars of the present and the future.
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