middle

In a quick follow-up to our breaking post on the Pentagon sending Shahed-136 clones to the Middle East, specifically “to flip the script” on Iran, we are getting new images of what configurations the Low-Cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System (LUCAS) kamikaze drones that will be used by Task Force Scorpion Strike (TFSS) exist in. The adaptability of the basic Shahed-136 platform is a key feature we highlighted in our extensive case for the U.S. pursuing large quantities of these drones, which you can read in full here. Since publishing that piece, top uniformed officers have made it clear that this capability is indeed needed.

In images posted by the Pentagon, we see two variants of LUCAS. One is not of particular note, it seems geared to strike the static targets we have become accustomed to for this type of weapon. The other features two very interesting details. It has what appears to be a gimbaled camera system mounted on its nose and, most importantly, a miniature beyond-line-of-sight satellite datalink mounted on its spine. This is a major development that would allow these weapons to not only be controlled dynamically after launch at great distances, but also to hit moving targets and targets of opportunity.

In addition, this capability would help enable swarm tactics, where the drones work to attack targets cooperatively with their progress monitored and altered in real-time by human operators, regardless of whether they have the satellite terminal or not. This is made possible by providing simpler, lighter line-of-sight datalinks on the drones equipped with warheads only, which then connect line-of-sight to the drone carrying the satellite communications terminal, acting as a force-multiplying networking hub. This also means you can have many simple drones paired with a much smaller number of more costly ones equipped with cameras and networking equipment, but achieve the same overall effect as if they all had the more advanced capabilities. This modularity which is ‘greater than the sum of its parts’ is a central tenet of emerging drone warfare TWZ highlighted a decade ago.

One of the major limitations of Shahed-136s being used by Russia en masse in Ukraine is the lack of beyond-line-of-sight control. Russia has adapted some of these drones, and has done so at an increasing rate, to operate with line-of-sight control, giving them significantly reduced range to operate from their launch points, but the ability for human pilots to hunt for and strike dynamic targets. Russia has also leveraged cellular data modems to provide patchwork man-in-the-loop control far deeper into Ukrainian territory for the same purpose. These capabilities allow for Shaheds to execute new types of missions and present new kinds of threats to Ukrainian forces. You can read all about these developments, which we have been covering for years, here.

Now, America’s LUCAS drones, cloned from the Shahed-136, will feature a far more advanced beyond-line-of-sight control capability, via satellite datalink, something that is just now popping up in Ukraine as well.

This will allow them to do the things defense officials told us they could do in our piece on the deployment:

“I do not want to get into numbers [of drones fielded], but they are definitely based and delivered at an amount that provides us with a significant level of capability,” the official added. The LUCAS design includes features that allow for “autonomous coordination, making them suitable for swarm tactics and network-centric strikes.”

“Costing approximately $35,000 per platform, LUCAS is a low-cost, scalable system that provides cutting-edge capabilities at a fraction of the cost of traditional long-range U.S. systems that can deliver similar effects,” Navy Capt. Tim Hawkins, a CENTCOM spokesperson, also told TWZ. “The drone system has an extensive range and the ability to operate beyond line of sight, providing significant capability across CENTCOM’s vast operating area.”

Seeing as swarms can be tailored to various objectives, with mixing and matching BLOS networking enabled units with strikers, and placing them in real time to minimize risk and maximize effect, America’s Shaheds should be significantly more survivable and effective. The ability to work together, reacting to their environment, and leverage real-time intelligence gathered by the full gamut of U.S. and allied assets, are even larger advantages. This is in addition to pairing them with combined arms tactics, from electronic warfare to kinetic strikes, to ensure they get to their target areas. Even if some die to air defenses, that can be viewed as a win, depending on what engages them. Consuming costly and finite effectors is a feature, not a bug, for these relatively cheap weapons, as you can read all about in our larger feature.

It’s also worth putting this into an Iranian context. The U.S. and Israel, primarily, shot down nearly all of Iran’s long-range kamikaze drones launched during the war in June and previous crises post October 7, 2023. But that required large numbers of advanced fighters and SAM systems that all leveraged a deeply networked data sharing and airborne early warning and control. Iran has none of this. They are indeed outright vulnerable to this threat. Hence the whole “flip the script” commentary.

There could be other configurations we have not seen yet, as well, but the two we have seen would cover the capabilities stated to us so far. If another configuration exists, it would most likely be for anti-radiation applications, where it can detect, home in on, and destroy air defense systems. This is a primary capability that dates back to the dawn of this kind of munition, which you can read about here. Anti-radiation seeker-equipped drones of this class can loiter deep inside enemy territory and wait for an air defense system to start radiating electromagnetic energy, then sniff it out and destroy it autonomously by homing in on those emissions. It’s also possible that some of the LUCAS drones have basic electronic surveillance measures (ESM) and are capable of using their networking to collectively geolocate radar emissions. If this is the case, the entire swarm can be turned into a SEAD/DEAD force on demand.

Finally, it’s worth noting that Israel likely leveraged its long history with these types of weapons in its interdiction campaign against Iranian missiles and launchers, as well as air defenses and other targets, during its war with Iran last summer. This is likely at least a partial influence on CENTCOM’s push to get these weapons into the field for offensive purposes. Up until today they have only been relegated to research and development and target work acting as Shahed-136 surrogates.

But the bottom line here is that the U.S. is not just sending Shahed clones that can blindly hit fixed targets, they are sending networked, man-in-the-loop weapons capable of swarming and executing coordinated tactics on the fly, including chasing down targets of opportunity and relaying vital reconnaissance far beyond the range of line-of-sight radios.

Contact the author: Tyler@twz.com

Egypt has been ranked as the leading African country in global soft power influence for 2024, according to a report by Business Insider Africa. The report, based on the Global Soft Power Index published by Brand Finance, places Egypt 39th worldwide with a soft power score of 44.9 points.

South Africa and Morocco follow Egypt in the continent’s rankings, securing second and third place with scores of 43.7 and 40.6 points, respectively. The index also noted that “Egypt secures the gold for its ‘rich heritage’” while the UAE ranks number one in the Middle East and 10th globally. Globally, the US leads with a record-high score of 78.8 points, an increase from 74.8 in 2023.

The Global Soft Power Index assesses the perceptions of all 193 UN member states, evaluating countries based on eight pillars: business and trade, international relations, education and science, culture and heritage, governance, media and communication, sustainable future, and people and values.

Soft power is defined as a country’s ability to influence others through attraction and persuasion rather than coercion. Countries like Egypt are leveraging diplomacy, culture, and education to enhance their global reputation and build goodwill.

Meanwhile, China which sits on third place on the global index has been expanding its influence in Africa over the past decade and is currently hosting the China-Africa forum, with African leaders keen to explore investment and loan opportunities. China, the world’s number two economy, is Africa’s largest trading partner, with bilateral trade hitting $167.8 billion in the first half of this year.

READ: Egypt’s Al-Azhar condemns Israeli offensive in occupied West Bank

The U.S. military has stood up its first operational unit armed with Low-Cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System (LUCAS) kamikaze drones, a design reverse-engineered from the Iranian-designed Shahed-136, in the Middle East. The establishment of Task Force Scorpion Strike (TFSS) is a major development, and offers a way “to flip the script on Iran,” according to a U.S. official. Earlier this year, TWZ laid out a detailed case for why America’s armed forces should be investing heavily in rapidly-produced Shahed-136 clones as an adaptable capability that could be critical in future operations globally, as you can read here.

U.S. Central Command announced the creation of TFSS today, which it said is a direct response to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s “Unleashing U.S. Military Drone Dominance” initiative that kicked off earlier this year. TFSS falls more specifically under the auspices of U.S. Special Operations Command Central (SOCCENT), which oversees U.S. special operations activities across the Middle East. CENTCOM’s Rapid Employment Joint Task Force (REJTF), established in September to help fast-track the fielding of new capabilities in the region, was also involved.

You can read our analysis of the capabilities of these drones in our latest story on the topic here.

TFSS consists of about two dozen troops that will oversee the establishment and operations of drones, the U.S. official told us, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss operational details. The delta wing LUCAS drone, which is roughly 10 feet long and has a wingspan of eight feet, was developed by Arizona-based SpektreWorks in cooperation with the U.S. military.

“I do not want to get into numbers [of drones fielded], but they are definitely based and delivered at an amount that provides us with a significant level of capability,” the official added. The LUCAS design includes features that allow for “autonomous coordination, making them suitable for swarm tactics and network-centric strikes.”

“Costing approximately $35,000 per platform, LUCAS is a low-cost, scalable system that provides cutting-edge capabilities at a fraction of the cost of traditional long-range U.S. systems that can deliver similar effects,” Navy Capt. Tim Hawkins, a CENTCOM spokesperson, also told TWZ. “The drone system has an extensive range and the ability to operate beyond line of sight, providing significant capability across CENTCOM’s vast operating area.”

“LUCAS drones deployed by CENTCOM have an extensive range and are designed to operate autonomously,” CENTCOM added in a press release. “They can be launched with different mechanisms to include catapults, rocket-assisted takeoff, and mobile ground and vehicle systems.”

“We can push them from various points,” the U.S. official told TWZ when asked about whether the LUCAS drones could be launched from ships. “They can be launched through various mechanisms, and land is not the only place from which to launch these.”

As an aside here, TWZ has previously explored in great depth the arguments for adding a variety of drone types to the arsenals of U.S. Navy ships to provide additional layers of defense, as well as enhanced strike, electronic warfare, intelligence-gathering, and networking capabilities, which you can find here.

Overall, the LUCAS drone’s core design was based directly on the Shahed-136.

“The U.S. military got hold of an Iranian Shahed,” according to the U.S. official. “We took a look and reverse-engineered it. We are working with a number of U.S. companies in the innovation space.”

“The LUCAS drone is the product of that [reverse-engineering] effort,” they added. “It pretty much follows the Shahed design.”

SpektreWorks’ website provides basic specifications for a related target drone design called the FLM 136, which has a stated maximum range of 444 miles and can stay aloft for up to six hours. Its total payload capacity, not counting fuel, is 40 pounds, and it cruises at a speed of around 74 knots (with a dash speed of up to 105 knots). Whether these details reflect the capabilities of the operationalized LUCAS design is unclear.

For comparison, the baseline Shahed-136, which is powered by a small 50-horsepower internal combustion engine, has a top speed of around 100 knots (185 kilometers per hour) and a maximum range of approximately 1,242 miles (2,000 kilometers) while carrying an 88-pound (40-kilogram) warhead, according to the U.S. Army’s Operational Environment Data Integration Network (ODIN) training portal. It was designed to strike static targets based on targeting data programmed in before launch. Iran has shown additional versions over the years with other guidance options, as well as a jet-powered derivative. Russia also now produces a still-expanding array of variants and derivatives of this design, referred to locally as the Geran. Iran and Russia have both been notably working to integrate more dynamic targeting capabilities into their respective versions of the drone.

Iranian forces, as well as the country’s various regional proxies in the Middle East, have extensively employed variations of the Shahed-136 in combat in recent years, especially against targets in Israel. Russian forces routinely use their versions of the drones in the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. U.S. military experience aiding in the defense of Israel, as well as observations from the war in Ukraine, have been key drivers in recent pushes to develop and field new drone and counter-drone capabilities, now including the LUCAS design.

Beyond the particulars of the LUCAS drones themselves, the confirmation that an operational American unit in the Middle East is now armed with them is a major development. Before now, at least publicly, the U.S. military had only shown concrete interest in LUCAS and similar designs for use as threat representative targets for testing and training purposes rather than as operational weapons.

“We are now at a point where not only are we building them in mass, but we have already based them in [the] Middle East for the first time,” the U.S. official stressed to TWZ. “In essence, we are able to flip the script on Iran.”

“I’ll let you read between the lines, but the fact that we are basing it where we are basing it, and the fact that we have seen what the Russians have done to Ukraine, what Iran has done to fomenting instability with the use of drone technology, the 12-Day War threats they posed to Israel and how partners and allies have to expend vast amounts of resources to defend against these attacks, we are now taking a page from their playbook and throwing it back at them,” the U.S. official continued. “In essence, Iran enjoyed overmatch and an advantage through the high volume of drone attacks they were able to effectively deploy, and they are hard to defend against at such a high volume.”

The video below includes a montage of clips from Iranian state media showing Shahed-136s being employed during an exercise.

To date, TFSS has not employed its LUCAS drones in real combat operations, but they have been launched at test targets in the region to demonstrate their capabilities, according to the U.S. official.

“We are shoring up our defense, and a good defense can sometimes be a good offense, as well,” they added. “We are adding an offensive firepower capability that we have seen, [that] can be effective, especially when you have a country [that] previously wreaked havoc with this technology, now vulnerable.”

In addition to Iran, “we don’t have a problem hitting the [Iranian-backed] Houthis [in Yemen], we could throw it in their face as well,” the U.S. official continued. However, “with the Houthis, you have more of a target-find problem, [rather] than sending a bunch of things into Iran with lots of stuff to hit.”

The official also noted that the U.S. government currently has a formal ceasefire in place with the Houthis.

As mentioned, the benefits that Shahed-type drones could offer U.S. forces extend well beyond the Middle East. This includes the sheer mass of additional strike capacity and the ability, by extension, to overwhelm finite enemy defensive assets. This all aligns well with broader efforts across the services to extend the scale and scope of their long-range fires capabilities, especially when it comes to fielding new, lower-cost, and readily producible weapon systems. TWZ‘s feature in September explored these realities in deep detail.

These are capabilities that could also be steadily built upon as time goes on, especially if the designs are highly modular and put emphasis on open architectures for the integration of new and improved capabilities. As we wrote:

“Modern positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) technologies will only improve upon this resilience to electronic warfare, even for those drones configured to strike with precision. Basic infusion of artificial intelligence (AI) is fast approaching over the horizon for lower-end drones, which will enable adaptive autonomous navigation without GPS and strikes even on mobile targets of opportunity. Again, you can read all about this in our previous feature linked here. Electronic warfare will not be able to impact these systems.”

“The key takeaway is that having tens of thousands of real threats that cost a fraction of the price of a standard cruise or ballistic missile, ready to gobble up precious air defense effectors, will be an absolutely critical factor in any major future conflict.”

“We will continue to develop these platforms,” like LUCAS, the U.S. official also told us. “One of the upsides to them is that they are not only scalable systems, but they can be developed and improved over time.”

SpektreWorks is not the only company in this marketspace. In the United States, at least one other firm, Griffon Aerospace, has been pitching a Shahed-esque drone called the MQM-172 Arrowhead to America’s armed forces.

While the general concept has existed for decades, similar delta-winged one-way attack munitions are steadily emerging globally among allies and potential foes alike, including in China. Russia is also said to be assisting North Korea in establishing its own domestic capacity to produce Shahed-136s, or derivatives thereof, as part of an exchange for Pyongyang’s help in fighting Ukraine.

At the same time, while today’s announcement about TFSS and its LUCAS drones is significant, it is still being presented heavily as a regionally limited capability to be employed by special operations forces. Whether or not there are efforts to stand up similar units elsewhere within the U.S. military in other locales is unclear. Top U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force officers have openly expressed an extremely high desire to field a Shahed-like kamikaze drone capability as soon as possible.

Still, the U.S. military’s standing up of its first operational unit armed with Shahed-like long-range kamikaze drones is a major development — one that has a high chance of serving as a springboard to much broader fielding of similar capabilities.

Update: 9:16 AM Eastern –

The Pentagon published three photos of the LUCAS drones on its image-sharing portal, which you can see below. We will have an analysis of these weapons shortly.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

Dec. 3 (UPI) — The U.S. military announced that it has launched a new task force to deploy various drone forces, and the first squadron of one-way-attack drones already has been formed in the Middle East.

U.S. Central Command on Wednesday launched Task Force Scorpion Strike, which is charged with designing and delivering low-cost drone capabilities for its area of responsibility, and already has formed a squadron of Low-cost Unmanned Combat Attack System (LUCAS) drones designed for autonomous kamikaze strikes.

“This new task force sets the conditions for using innovation as a deterrent,” Admiral Brad Cooper said in a press release.

“Equipping our skilled warfighters faster with cutting-edge drone capabilities showcases U.S. military innovation and strength, which deters bad actors,” said Cooper, who is commander of U.S. Central Command.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has made it a priority for the military to improve and increase its use of technology, specifically calling for increased use of a wide array of drones — including cheaper ones that can be rapidly produced and deployed.

In September, Cooper announced the formation of a Rapid Employment Joint Task Force to help streamline the military’s benefits from emerging technologies to “rapidly equip our warriors,” he said at the time.

The new task force will build a one-way-attack squadron of LUCAS drones that Central Command said have extensive range, can be launched using catapults, rockets and mobile vehicle systems, and can carry several different weapons.

The LUCAS drone’s design is based on Iran’s Shahed-136 drone, which The War Zone reported the U.S. military “got a hold of” and reverse-engineered it to produce the 10-foot-long, eight-foot-wide wingspan aircraft that is now being fielded in the Middle East.

The drones cost about $35,000 each, making them a “low-cost, scalable system that provides cutting-edge capabilities at a fraction of the cost of traditional long-range U.S. systems that can deliver similar effects,” according to Navy Captain Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson for U.S. Central Command.

Although the drones have not been used in actual combat yet, they have been put through trials and tests, both in the Middle East, where they were already fielded, and at the U.S. Army’s Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona.

The tests at Yuma have specifically been to determine the ideal warheads to use for missions with the drones, which Army officials said are expected to be rapidly produced using a method like the Liberty Ship cargo ship model during World War II — which is in line with Hegseth’s stated goals for technological adoption and what they cost the military to acquire.

“There is a price point that we want to produce a lot of these in a rapid fashion,” Colonel Nicholas Law said in a press release.

Hegseth and DOD officials earlier this week outlined the overall drone program, which aims to buy hundreds of thousands of different types of drones over the course of four gauntlets to find vendors that can quickly produce drones at scale and at a cost the military can afford, Military.com reported.

“We need to outfit our combat units with unmanned systems at scale,” Hegseth said. “We cannot wait.”

Mainstream US media continues to celebrate the supposed strength of the US economy. Almost daily, headlines speak of hopeful numbers, sustainable growth, positive trends and constant gains. The reality on the ground, however, tells of something entirely different, which raises the questions: Are Americans being lied to? And for what purpose?

“US Economy Grew 1.7% in Fourth Quarter, Capping a Strong Year,” the New York Times reported. “US Economy Grew 5.7% in 2021, Fastest Full-Year Clip,” the Washington Post added. Reuters, Voice of America, the Financial Times, CNN, Market Watch and many others all concurred. But if that is the case, why then is US President Joe Biden’s approval rating at an all time low? And why are many Americans literally going hungry?

In a national opinion poll conducted by Reuters/Ipsos and published on 3 February, only 41 per cent of US adults approved of Biden’s performance in office. A whopping 56 per cent disapproved. The numbers were not a complete shock as the downward trajectory of the Biden presidency has been in effect since soon after he moved to the White House over a year ago.

The truth is, Biden was not the Democrats’ top choice nominee for president. Judging by various opinion polls and the early results of the Democratic primaries in 2020, it was Bernie Sanders who represented the Democratic hope for real, substantive change. Party politics, liberal media insistence that Sanders was not ‘electable’ and fear-mongering regarding a second Trump term in office pushed Biden through the ranks of nominees to be presented as America’s only hope for salvation.

READ: Taliban calls on Biden to reverse move to halve frozen Afghan funds

While Republicans remain committed to the Donald Trump legacy and are still largely politically and ideologically united, Democrats are growingly unconfident in their leadership and uncertain regarding the future of their democracy, governance and economy. Of course, they are blameless in holding such views.

While the Democratic leadership continues to obsess with its fear of Trump, and while liberal media insists that the US economy is as healthy as it can be, the average American continues to struggle against encroaching poverty, inflation and lack of future prospects.

Here are some sobering numbers: 56 per cent of all Americans cannot produce a meager $1,000 as an emergency expense from their existing savings, CNBC reported; one in 10 US adults went hungry last December as a result of poverty, Forbes.com reported; Columbia University Center on Poverty and Social Policy revealed that child poverty rate in the US stands at 17 per ent, “one of the highest among developed countries”.

If American workers are studied separately from the larger population, the numbers are even more grim: three quarters of American workers said that “it was very or somewhat difficult to make end’s meet,” according to a study conducted by Shift Project, and reported in NBC News online. Forty per ent of the polled workers said that they are not able to come up with $400 in emergency money. But the most shocking of all, according to the same study, is that “around 20% said that they went hungry because they couldn’t afford enough to eat”.

Homeless on the street in front of a Police Station in Los Angeles, California on 16 February 2022. [FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images]

Aside from occasional government handouts, which were provided by both the Trump and Biden administrations, little has been done by way of structural changes to the US economy that would ensure greater equality among all sectors of society. Instead, the administration’s priorities seem to be allocated to something else entirely.

Writing in Politico, David Siders describes the current political discourse within Democratic Party circles, where “Democrats are losing their minds over 2024”. Since the Democratic President’s public approval ratings are “dismal”, Democrats fear the return of Trump. “All anyone can talk about is Trump —donors, policy folks, party insiders, the media,” Siders quoted a Democratic adviser as saying. The same adviser described “a weird cycle” where the “conversation keeps coming back to Trump”.

Whether conscious of this obsession or not, the Biden administration seems to operate entirely according to a political strategy that is predicated on tarnishing Trump and his supporters, retelling, over and over again, the story of the January 6 insurrection, hoping for a Republican split or any other miracle that would bolster their chances of maintaining their Congressional majority in the next November mid-term elections.

While doing so, the Democratic leadership seems oblivious to the harsh reality on the ground, where food prices are skyrocketing and where inflation has reached unbearable levels. According to new data, released on 10 February by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the US consumer price index (CPI) rose by 7.5 per cent in January compared to the same month a year ago, making it the “fastest annual pace since 1982,” the Financial Times reported.

READ: Putin wants to turn the clock back and must be reined in

The rise in inflation is not a one time off event, as CPI has been rising at a sustainable level of 0.6 per cent on a monthly basis. Ordinary people can feel this increase almost every time they go shopping. Small business owners, especially restaurants, bakeries and grocery stores, are left with one out of two options: either increasing their prices or shutting down completely. Consequently, large segments of the already vulnerable US population are growing more desperate than ever.

To avoid providing real answers to difficult questions about the welfare of millions of Americans, about the real function of their democratic institutions and about existing corruption within the US political system – regardless of who controls the Congress or resides in the White House – Democrats and their media are either blaming their Republican rivals or creating foreign policy distractions. They continue to speak of a ‘China threat’ and an ‘imminent’ Russian invasion of Ukraine and such, while the real threat is that of detached politicians who are amassing wealth, fighting for power and prestige while their countrymen and women continue to go hungry.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.