Drones on the Middle East Battlefield.
Drones on the Middle East Battlefield
Recent operations in the Middle East and the attacks on Cyprus have highlighted the importance of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) on the modern battlefield. A typical example is the American LUCAS drone, which was used operationally against Iranian facilities in 2026. (defensenews.com)
LUCAS belongs to the category of attritable UAVs, i.e. low-cost and expendable systems, suitable for mass saturation attacks. The interesting fact is that it is based on reverse engineering of the Iranian Shahed-136 UAV, which had been recovered or technically analyzed in previous conflicts. (dronexl.co)
The drone features:
- loitering munition architecture (one-way attack drone),
- delta wing design with rear thrust propeller
- launching from mobile platforms or rails
- low production cost (~$35.000)
- ability to operate in swarms.
LUCAS technology is transmitted through reverse engineering: capturing a UAV on the battlefield allows analysis of its sensors, navigation systems and communications datalinks, leading to rapid replication or adaptation.
Iranian UAVs and corresponding practices
Iran has developed its own UAVs that are often based on reverse engineering of Western systems:
- Shahed‑171 (Copy) copy of RQ-170 Sentinel, 2011)
- Shahed‑136 and Shahed‑191, used in swarm attacks and ISR missions.
The philosophy of the IRGC (Revolutionary Guard) is clear: every downed or recovered system is a source of technology, especially for communications and C4ISR (Command and Control Systems) systems.
Military lessons
- Capture & reverse engineering (= Recovery & Reverse Engineering), allows rapid dissemination of technology between adversaries.
- UAVs low cost and swarm they can change the balance on the battlefield.
- The communications nodes and datalinks they are the most valuable element for reverse engineering.
- Understanding these processes is critical for communications and technology officers.
The case of LUCAS and Iranian UAVs shows that in modern warfare, technology it is not only spread through development, but also through the battlefield, resulting in faster system evolution.
Forwarder's Conclusion
This "exchange of expertise" across the battlefield reminds us of a game of chess where one player steals the other's pawns and returns them to battle with a different color.
For us old-time Radio Operators, this has an irony: we once kept our TODBs and radio plans in safes. Today, TODBs and communications plans fly over the enemy's heads.
Let's see why this "mirror game" is so crucial today:
- The Economy of Time: Why reinvent the wheel?
In the military we say that "the enemy is the best teacher."
- Iran It didn't have the billions the US had for research, so it "fished" American drones (like the RQ-170) and copied their design.
- USA They saw that Iran had made something very cheap and effective (Shahed). Instead of spending 10 years designing something from scratch, they took the ready-made, proven recipe and developed it. The result; You reduce production time from years to months.
- The Battle of the Electronic "Guts"
This is where copying becomes dangerous. When one person copies another, the game shifts to frequencies.
- If I know how your receiver is constructed, I know exactly what "poison frequency" I need to emit to blind you.
- Copying is not just about making the same drone, but about learning how to shoot it down without firing a single bullet.
- The "Digital Stealth War"
What happens is a perpetual cycle. The replication cycle is reminiscent of the radar/anti-radar race of World War II between the Germans and the British.
- Appearance: A displays a new weapon.
- Captivity: B takes one down and studies it.
- Copy: B makes his own copy.
- Countermeasure: A must now find a way to neutralize his own creation, which the enemy now has!
This process shows that in modern warfare nothing stays hidden for longPower no longer lies in having a "secret weapon," but in being able to you change your technology faster as long as the enemy can copy it.
As we used to say in our units: "The Transmitter must always be one step ahead of the interference"Today, it must be one step ahead of copying.
Πηγές
Mr. Dimitrios Koutroumanis, President of the Association of Veterans of the Hellenic Republic