US Says It Used One-Way Aerial and Sea Drones in Iran Strikes for First Time
- Jul 13
- 1 min read
WASHINGTON, July 13, Saudi Arabia Breaking News — US Central Command said American forces used one-way aerial and maritime attack drones during strikes against Iran on Sunday, marking the first such deployment announced by the military.
CENTCOM said the operation involved “one-way attack aerial drones, and one-way attack sea drones for the first time” but did not disclose the models or number of systems deployed.
The US previously used the Low-cost Unmanned Combat Attack System, known as LUCAS, during the early stages of the war with Iran.
The American system is modeled on Iran’s Shahed-136 drone, which has been used extensively by Russia in its war against Ukraine.
“These low-cost drones, modeled after Iran’s Shahed drones, are now delivering American-made retribution,” CENTCOM said when announcing their earlier deployment.
Carl Schuster, a former director of the US Pacific Command’s Joint Intelligence Center, said the Fleet-class unmanned surface vessel would be among the systems most suited to one-way maritime strikes.
“The most suitable for one-way strikes is the Fleet-class unmanned surface vessel,” Schuster told CNN.
The vessels were originally designed for mine-countermeasure and anti-submarine operations but can travel at speeds exceeding 40 miles per hour.
Schuster said they could be adapted for one-way attacks and would be difficult to intercept, although each vessel costs more than $2 million.
Both the Fleet-class vessels and LUCAS aerial drones are designed to be deployed from US Navy littoral combat ships, he added.
