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US Navy in Middle East Employs Attack Drone at Sea for First Time
Personnel assigned to US Naval Forces Central Command/US 5th Fleet (NAVCENT/C5F) successfully launched a one-way attack drone from a ship at sea for the first time, Dec. 16.
The Independence-class littoral combat ship USS Santa Barbara (LCS 32) achieved the historic milestone in the Arabian Gulf while launching a Low-cost Unmanned Combat Attack System (LUCAS).
“This first successful launch of LUCAS from a naval vessel marks a significant milestone in rapidly delivering affordable and effective unmanned capabilities to the warfighter,” said Vice Adm. Curt Renshaw, commander of NAVCENT/C5F, in a service news release. “This achievement demonstrates the power of innovation and joint collaboration in this critical region.”
On Dec. 3, US Central Command announced the deployment of the US military’s first one-way-attack drone squadron to the Middle East. The LUCAS drone that took off from USS Santa Barbara’s flight deck is part of the Task Force Scorpion Strike squadron formed to equip US service members with the latest cutting-edge tools.
Task Force 59
The LUCAS platforms operated by US forces in the Middle East have an extensive range and can be launched with different mechanisms to include catapults, rocket-assisted takeoff, and mobile ground and vehicle systems.
“This platform will undoubtedly enhance regional maritime security and deterrence,” said Renshaw.
NAVCENT/C5F’s unmanned and autonomous operations task force, Task Force 59, executed the successful LUCAS drone launch from USS Santa Barbara.
NAVCENT/C5F is the maritime component of US Central Command, whose area of responsibility encompasses about 2.5 million square miles of water area and includes the Arabian Gulf, Red Sea, Gulf of Oman and parts of the Indian Ocean. This expanse, comprised of 21 countries, includes three critical chokepoints at the Strait of Hormuz, the Suez Canal, and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait at the southern tip of Yemen.
Reverse-engineered drone
The LUCAS drones were created after developers reverse-engineered a Shahed-136 drone from Iran, which the US captured a few years ago, a US defense official explained to CNN.
The Shahed drones have also been employed by Russia in its attacks on Ukraine.
Kamikaze UAV “Shahed-136” is designed to destroy ground fixed objects by pointing and contact explosion of warheads and UAVs.
In some cases, light-class UAVs are a difficult target for existing radars. These apparatuses have a small effective scattering area, which is why their detection becomes quite a difficult task. In particular, the maximum detection range is reduced. Medium and large UAVs with large geometric dimensions, significant thermal contrasts due to the use of powerful engines 19 internal combustion, carrying cannon and missile-bomb weapons, parabolic satellite dishes, which have a large effective scattering area, represent target for air defense systems. Small-sized UAVs are characterized by small geometric dimensions, low thermal contrast, and flight speed, as well as a small effective scattering plane, which does not allow to ensure sufficient efficiency of their destruction of air defense systems, MANPADS.
Photo credit: U.S. Navy
