U.S. Navy — First Ship-Launched LUCAS Drone

On Dec. 16, the U.S. Navy completed its first at-sea launch of a one-way attack/unmanned combat drone (LUCAS)from the USS Santa Barbara in the Arabian Gulf. This test is a significant milestone in integrating autonomous strike capabilities into surface warfare. The Low-cost Unmanned Combat Attack System is designed to be an affordable, long-range expendable strike asset that can be launched from ships without major platform modifications — a key step toward making unmanned maritime strike tools operational rather than purely experimental.