Overview
- CENTCOM announced Thursday that it has launched Task Force Falcon Strike, the command’s first multinational, multi-domain task force focused on one-way attack drones.
- Falcon Strike will employ one-way systems that operate in the air, on the sea surface, and under the water and will be led by staff from U.S. Special Operations Command Central (SOCCENT) alongside regional representatives.
- CENTCOM says the new task force expands the Scorpion Strike model, which in December achieved a ship-launched aerial drone launch and later employed one-way aerial systems in Operation Epic Fury and unmanned surface vessels in July strikes on Iranian port facilities.
- Reporting of heavy MQ-9 Reaper losses has put pressure on high-end drone capacity, which has driven interest in lower-cost, attritable systems such as the LUCAS design, increased use of USVs, and plans to include uncrewed underwater vehicles though UUV combat use has not been publicly confirmed.
- CENTCOM has begun consulting and formally inviting Gulf partners but has not named participants, leaving open how the force will be resourced, legally coordinated, and what effects it will have on regional patrols, shipping security, and the emerging market for one-way attack drones.