Army commanders outline how LUCAS one-way attack drones fit Pacific and European plans

TLDR

• A US Army Pacific commander said on 14 October the Army is modelling LUCAS one-way attack drones against anti-access networks.¹²
• The aim may be a "mission kill" of ship systems, not a sinking, opening a window for carriers or bombers.¹²
• These are panel remarks and modelling, not a new LUCAS contract or fielding decision.¹²

Janes reports that commanders are modelling use of one-way attack (OWA) systems such as the LUCAS (Low-cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System) long-range loitering munition, and working out how to integrate and employ them.¹ Major General Bernard Harrington, who commands the 7th Infantry Division and Multi-Domain Command-Pacific, said at the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) conference in Washington on 14 October that the modelling showed "great value" in masses of OWAs, because friendly forces would not have to expend or unmask more exquisite systems.¹ He framed the problem as achieving "mass on a cost curve": "maybe I don't necessarily need to sink a ship, but if I take out certain systems on that vessel", that creates a window for the joint force commander to surge a carrier strike group or bomber task force.¹²

Pacific and European framing

The War Zone, which attended the panel, says Harrington described modelling with unmanned surface vessels, long-range one-way attack and long-range launched effects, synchronised and massed, as potentially achieving that effect.² He added that the Army has started incorporating the maintenance and employment of long-range one-way attack into its "Bayonet Academy" training area at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington State.²

On the European side, The War Zone quotes Brigadier General Steven Carpenter, who heads Multi-Domain Command-Europe, saying the Army would use such systems to help dismantle an anti-access/area denial bubble in the centre while accepting risk elsewhere, to create "counter-fire parity, long-range fires parity with an adversary".² He said he likes systems that are resilient to electromagnetic interference, longer range and higher yield, so they can destroy targets such as SS-26 and SS-21 missile systems, and named LUCAS and Covenant, a US-Israeli company developing a long-range strike weapon called Anthem that the Army has been testing.²

Background and limits

The War Zone notes that the US military announced it had begun fielding LUCAS, which was reverse-engineered from Iran's Shahed-136, in December 2025, and that the system made its combat debut in the opening phases of operations against Iran this year, after which the top US commander in the Middle East called it "indispensable".² The sources describe commanders' remarks and modelling at a conference panel; they do not announce a new LUCAS contract, quantity or fielding decision.¹²

Why it matters: the remarks show the Army treating cheap one-way attack drones as a way to mass effects against a defended area and keep costly missiles in reserve, with ship-level mission kills in the Pacific and counter-fire against missile launchers in Europe. They are commander statements from a panel, not a funded programme change, so how many LUCAS rounds the Army fields and trains with remains the open question.