US CENTCOM launches multinational attack drone task force in West Asia

The United States (US) is expanding its use of one-way attack drones in the war against Iran, with “efforts to establish the first-ever multi-domain, multinational attack drone task force” with regional partners to operate unmanned systems across the air, surface, and underwater domains, according to a press release by US Central Command (CENTCOM).

The new unit, known as Task Force Falcon Strike, will employ one-way attack drones consisting of unmanned systems “from above, on, and below the sea” and will be operated by military support staff from the US and regional partners.

The new formation follows Task Force Scorpion Strike, a specialised unit established last year in December as the US military’s first dedicated one-way attack drone squadron in West Asia. 

“Task Force Falcon Strike will expand on Scorpion Strike’s success given the tremendous innovation happening among our regional allies and partners. Integrating and deploying our new capabilities together will help us rapidly realise the new possibilities that are on the horizon,” said CENTCOM commander, Admiral Brad Cooper, in a media statement. 

The personnel from the US Special Operations Command Central, which launched the earlier Scorpion Strike unit, will lead Falcon Strike’s staff comprising US and regional representatives.

Scorpion Strike operates the low-cost uncrewed combat attack system, a US one-way attack drone whose design was reverse-engineered from Iran’s Shahed-136. The unit has already used it in combat during Operation Epic Fury. 

Last month, three Saronic Corsair unmanned surface vessels also struck a submarine and ship-maintenance facility at Iran’s Bandar Abbas Naval Base, the first known US use of an unmanned surface vessel as an attack weapon.

This initiative comes amid concerns over US “magazine depth” for such weapons after the war with Iran placed significant demands on American munitions stocks. The new task force also draws on lessons from Ukraine, where unmanned surface vessels have been used extensively against Russian naval assets, including the use of Ukrainian sea drones against Russia’s Black Sea fleet.