Israel and the US are testing new weapons, including the Israeli "Sparrow" missile and an American-made drone inspired by Iran's Shahed-136. Photo / US Navy via Getty Images
Israel and the US are testing new weapons, including the Israeli "Sparrow" missile and an American-made drone inspired by Iran's Shahed-136. Photo / US Navy via Getty Images
Israel and the United States are testing new or little-known weapons in the Middle East war, including an Israeli “Sparrow” missile and an Iranian-inspired drone made in America then fired back at Iran.
Israeli F-15 jets fired munitions including the Blue Sparrow ballistic missile in the operation to kill Iran’sSupreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday, the Wall Street Journal and Financial Times have reported.
Developed by Israeli defence firm Rafael, the Blue Sparrow belongs to the same family as its Black Sparrow and Silver Sparrow – all originally conceived to test the effectiveness of Israel’s air defences.
The Blue Sparrow was developed to imitate missiles like Iraq’s Scud-C/D, according to a 2023 presentation document. It weighs 1900kg before it is launched and is 6.5m long.
During the 12-day war in June last year, “Blue Sparrow and Silver Sparrow aeroballistic missiles made it possible to hit various targets at enormous distances – 1000km for the former and 2000km for the latter”, the French Air Force chief of staff General Jerome Bellanger said in July.
This range means a Blue Sparrow can be fired from a safe distance, without a warplane risking being shot down by aerial defences.
The Lucas is a low-cost, long-range one-way attack drone that looks similar to the Iranian Shahed-136 from which it is inspired.
"Made in America": The US has turned a captured Iranian drone back on Tehran as part of its airstrikes in the past week. Photo / US Navy via Getty Images
The commander of the United States Central Command, Admiral Brad Cooper, has described it as “indispensable” in the conflict with Iran.
“This is an original Iranian drone design,” he said on Thursday.
“We captured it, pulled the guts out, sent it back to America, put a little ‘Made in America’ on it,” he said.
“And we’re shooting at the Iranians.”
It was used “for the first time in history” in the operation that started on February 28.
“These low-cost drones, modelled after Iran’s Shahed drones, are now delivering American-made retribution,” Central Command said on X.
Details about the Lucas are few and far between.
It is made by SpektreWorks, developed from its FLM 136 drone target, which was initially developed to emulate a threat and can fly at 137km/h for more than 800km.
A Central Command spokesperson told specialised website the War Zone the new drone cost “approximately US$35,000 [$60,000]”, making it possible to mass-produce.
In comparison, a cruise missile costs more than US$1 million to make.
Iran has deployed hundreds of Shahed-136s against the Gulf, and supplied the technology to Russia, which has produced thousands of such drones under the name Geran-2 for its war against Ukraine.
Long-range Precision Strike Missiles (PrSMs) are the successor to US-made ATACMS missiles, which Ukraine has long requested from the United States in order to strike Russian positions in depth.
Also fired from the Himars launcher, the PrSM is being used in combat for the first time in the Middle East war.
“While the ATACMS uses pods that contain a single missile with a maximum range of roughly 300km, PrSM provides two rounds per launch pod, with maximum ranges exceeding 400km,” according to the US armed forces.
Its manufacturer, the American giant Lockheed Martin, received a US$4.9 billion contract in March last year for its production, with a target of 400 missiles per year.
Later versions of the missile could have a range of more than 1000km, Lockheed Martin says.
