Low-cost Unmanned Combat Attack System (LUCAS) drones sit staged on the tarmac at a CENTCOM-area base on Nov. 23. (U.S. Central Command Public Affairs)

U.S. Central Command on Wednesday announced the creation of Task Force Scorpion Strike, a new special operations cell focused on deploying low-cost, one-way-attack drones in the Middle East. While not the first U.S. unit to employ such weapons, it is the first CENTCOM-designated task force built specifically around them.

The move reflects a significant step in the Pentagon’s effort to accelerate the fielding of inexpensive unmanned strike systems—especially as cheap drones increasingly shape modern conflict across the region.

The new task force will field the Low-cost Unmanned Combat Aerial System (LUCAS)—a class of American-made one-way-attack drones designed to give U.S. forces a scalable, disposable option for countering militias and state-backed groups that have embraced low-cost Iranian systems such as the Shahed-136.

“These systems allow us to equip warfighters quickly with new capabilities,” CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper said in a statement. “Innovation itself becomes a deterrent.”

LUCAS drones cost roughly tens of thousands of dollars per unit, depending on configuration, and can be launched from catapults, vehicles, or rail systems. They are intended to operate as expendable, tactical strike assets—not long-range strategic weapons—reflecting a broader shift toward high-volume, low-cost munitions.

Wednesday’s announcement follows the establishment of CENTCOM’s Rapid Employment Joint Task Force, which is designed to fast-track emerging technologies into operational theaters. Task Force Scorpion Strike will fall under U.S. Special Operations Command Central (SOCCENT) for regional integration and oversight.

Part of a Wider Pentagon Push for Drone “Mass”

The LUCAS deployment aligns with a wider Pentagon effort to produce inexpensive drones in large quantities. Senior defense officials have repeatedly emphasized the need to increase “drone mass,” pointing to lessons from Ukraine, the Middle East, and the Red Sea.

This push includes the Defense Department’s broader work on attritable systems—such as the Replicator initiative—as well as multiple service-level programs aimed at rapidly fielding small unmanned systems.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has outlined a plan to expand low-cost drone acquisition across the force, but many specifics—including vendor numbers, exact pricing, and phased production targets—remain subject to ongoing contracting and congressional oversight.

“We need to outfit our combat units with unmanned systems at scale,” Hegseth said Tuesday. “This is a fight-tonight mindset. Our forces need these systems now.”

A New Era in Regional Warfare

CENTCOM’s accelerated focus on low-cost attack drones highlights a strategic reality: adversaries in the Middle East are already using mass-produced, expendable UAVs to strike oil infrastructure, airbases, and commercial shipping. The U.S. is now moving to ensure it can respond with comparable speed and flexibility.

The creation of TF Scorpion Strike does not represent the beginning of U.S. one-way drone operations—but it does formalize a new structure for rapidly integrating inexpensive unmanned systems into CENTCOM missions.

The Pentagon’s shift reflects a battlefield truth that is no longer theoretical: the drone age has already arrived, and the side that adapts fastest gains the advantage.