The Iranian Army said on Sunday that its forces shot down a US LUCAS drone over the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas, an incident that comes as the US and Israel appear poised to launch another round of major strikes against Iran.
So far, the US hasn’t confirmed losing a LUCAS and hasn’t responded to the Iranian claim. The LUCAS, or Low-cost Unmanned Combat Attack Systems, is the US version of the Iranian Shahed-136 drone and was first deployed to the region last year.
Iran’s PressTV published a photo that it said showed the wreckage of a US LUCAS drone in Bandar Abbas and said that Iranian forces previously shot one down in July.
US Central Command first announced in December 2025 that it had deployed a fleet of LUCAS drones in the Middle East, calling it the “first one-way-attack drone squadron based in the Middle East.” On February 26, 2026, two days before the US and Israel began bombing Iran, CENTCOM said that the LUCAS drones were ready to strike the Islamic Republic.
LUCAS drones are said to cost about $35,000 for the US to produce. Iranian air defenses have also shot down at least 45 US MQ-9 Reaper drones since the war began, a much more expensive unmanned aerial vehicle, costing somewhere between $30 million and $50 million to manufacture.
