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Fishing boat reels in large U.S. military drone off Florida coast
CBS News • • general
Key Points:
- A fishing boat off Florida caught a U.S. military LUCAS drone along with fish such as mahi-mahi, snapper, and grouper, after spotting it upside down in the water.
- The drone was identified by active-duty military helicopter pilots on board and later handed over to local authorities and the government.
- Eglin Air Force Base confirmed the LUCAS drone had crashed during routine testing on September 17 and has since been recovered.
- LUCAS drones, used by U.S. forces in the Middle East, are low-cost uncrewed combat attack systems modeled after Iranian Shahed drones and have been deployed in recent conflicts.
- CENTCOM's Task Force Scorpion Strike has employed these drones in combat operations, marking the first use of one-way attack drones by American forces.
