There have been reports of a reduction in America's long range interceptor and missile stockpiles in the war with Iran. Along with this, there have also been reports of America signing new contracts to increase their production.
After these reports surfaced, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) has announced the creation of the "First Multinational Strike Drone Force".
According to the official announcement of Centcom, drones will be included in this force. These will work in the sky, on water and under water. This force will be formed with the participation of American forces and America's Middle East allies.
On August 13, CENTCOM announced that it had begun the process of forming a "Falcon Strike Force". CENTCOM said invitations are being sent to several countries to join the force. However, CENTCOM did not name any country or potential partner in the force.
According to CENTCOM's plan, this special force will use drones and unmanned weapons that can operate in the air, sea surface and under the sea.
These will be used for one-time missions. These will be jointly operated by the soldiers of America and other allied countries.
The responsibility of monitoring, planning and coordination between different countries of this entire operation will be with the Special Operations Command of CENTCOM.
According to military expert institutions and several media reports, America's stockpile of long-range weapons and air defense missiles has been reduced to a great extent in the war with Iran.
However, the US Department of Defense (Pentagon) and the White House say that America still has enough ammunition and missiles to continue its military operations.
At the same time, Iran's attacks also showed how unsafe permanent military bases and important structures in the Middle East can be.
Stacey Pettyjohn, an expert at the Center for a New American Security, told BBC Persian that drone technology has made it very easy to attack from a distance. Soldiers or launching platforms no longer need to move directly to targets, putting military bases, civilian infrastructure and economic establishments at greater risk than before.
According to Pettyjohn, cheap drones and other unmanned systems have given the attacking side an edge. This is because most of the defense systems deployed in the Middle East are quite expensive and their numbers are also limited. In such a situation, it has become easier to challenge the big and expensive defense system with low-cost drones.
Under the new plan, CENTCOM wants to include a large number of cheap offensive weapons in its military strength instead of relying only on expensive and sophisticated missiles, fighter aircraft and warships.
Falcon Strike is not the first program in which CENTCOM has tried to use unmanned systems in collaboration with allied forces.
In September 2021, the US Navy established Task Force 59 in Bahrain.
Its initial objective was to monitor the region's maritime areas, such as the Strait of Hormuz, Bab-el-Mandeb and the Suez Canal, with the help of drones and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
According to the US Navy, by early 2024 the unit had tested or operated more than 23 types of unmanned systems.
Gradually its work was not limited to mere monitoring. It also tested firing ammunition from an unmanned system in a 2023 military exercise.
In August 2023, the Pentagon launched the "Replicator" program.
The objective was to introduce thousands of relatively cheap and easily replaceable automated systems into the Army within 18 to 24 months.
This policy proceeded with a "Drone Supremacy" program in 2025. Last December the US Defense Department announced it would spend $1 billion to build about 3.4 lakh small drones over two years.
During this time, CENTCOM formed the "Scorpion Strike Force". It was described as America's first special drone strike unit in the Middle East that would operate under direct American control.
Additionally, US Defense Minister Pete Hegseth said that America cannot use expensive missiles costing $2 million every time to shoot down cheap drones.
Pettyjohn also believes that this imbalance is motivating America to create a new drone force.
He told BBC Persian that the Russia-Ukraine war and the conflict with Iran have shown that even low-cost drones can pose a major threat to military bases and critical infrastructure. At the same time, many existing defense systems used to stop them are very expensive and their number is also limited.
According to Pettyjohn, small and inexpensive drones can be deployed in large numbers. Even if some of them are destroyed, it does not cause as much damage as the destruction of an expensive fighter aircraft, missile or advanced military system.
The plan to create a Falcon Strike Force can be considered a part of America's new strategy, in which it is incorporating a large number of cheap and effective attack systems along with its expensive and sophisticated weapons.
The most talked about drone in this program is Lucas.
LUCAS stands for Low-Cost Unmanned Combat Attack System. According to a March 2026 report by Reuters, Centcom had said that the price of this drone is around $ 35,000 per unit.
The report also said that the influence of Iran's Shahed drone can be seen on its design.
The Lucas drone can be launched from the ground, a military vehicle or the deck of a warship. Centcom says it was used in "Operation Epic Fury" against Iran.
In June 2026, US media reported that a drone named Corsair was used to rescue two crew members of an Apache helicopter that crashed off the coast of Oman.
According to Centcom spokesperson Tim Hawkins, this drone picked up both the people from the water and took them to another place, from where the helicopter evacuated them safely.
A month later, CENTCOM announced that three Corsair drones attacked ship and submarine repair facilities at Iran's Bandar Abbas naval base. CENTCOM described it as the US military's first actual combat use of an attack drone.
The US military presence in the Persian Gulf region is concentrated in a few large military bases. Among these, Qatar's Al-Udeid Air Base is the main center of American air operations.
The US Navy's Fifth Fleet is stationed in Bahrain and Kuwait's Camp Arifjan is one of the major support centers for the US Army.
The distance of these bases from Iran is also not much. Kuwait's Camp Arifjan is about 100 kilometers away, the Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain is about 205 kilometers away and Qatar's Al-Udeid Air Base is about 275 kilometers away.
According to the Council on Foreign Relations, such large and permanent military bases proved very beneficial for America during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
But now with the increasing firepower and accuracy of Iran's missiles and drones, these major American bases are at greater risk than before.
Defense expert Stacey Pettyjohn told BBC Persian that the war with Iran has shown that large and permanent military bases, warships and aircraft can be easily targeted.
According to him, smaller and dispersed military assets, such as ground-launched drones, small boats and unmanned underwater systems, are more difficult for the enemy to locate and target.
Also, even if some of these get destroyed, the loss can be easily borne due to their low value.
Stacey Pettyjohn says the US may be rethinking its peacetime military deployment strategy in the Middle East. According to him, "The American military bases in the Persian Gulf are very close to Iran. In such a situation, I do not think that in the future, as large a number of manned fighter planes and warships will be deployed at these bases as before."
For this reason the Falcon Strike plan is being considered important. A major advantage of this is that America's ability to attack will not be limited to a few large and permanent military bases. Drones and unmanned naval systems can be operated from a variety of locations, vehicles and platforms, making them more difficult to target.
However, Pettyjohn also cautions that there is no 100 percent safe solution to this challenge. According to him, cheaper anti-drone systems, better security of military bases, and use of fake devices to confuse the enemy can reduce the risk.
Nevertheless, some threat will always remain and no military base or system can be considered completely secure in modern warfare.
The biggest challenge in implementing the Falcon Strike Force plan may not be in mobilizing drones, but in convincing the countries in the region to openly join this joint attack force.
According to Stacey Pettyjohn, an expert at the Center for a New American Security, when a campaign involves the forces, technology and capabilities of different countries, it becomes quite complex to conduct.
Creating a multinational force may increase political support and military capability, but it also slows down the decision-making process.
Besides, problems like sharing of intelligence, building consensus among all countries and coordination between different military equipment also come to the fore.
Pettyjohn believes that America's biggest reason behind making this force multinational is probably to gain political support and maintain access to regional military bases.
The US military needs host countries' airports, seaports and communications networks to deploy drone launchers, maintain equipment and conduct military operations.
The Arab states of the Persian Gulf have long depended on the United States for their air defense and regional defense. But during the recent Iran war, these countries tried, at least publicly, to distance themselves from direct military operations against Iran.
Some countries may prefer covert intelligence cooperation and exchange of information rather than openly being a part of this alliance.
From the information revealed so far, it does not appear that America has created a ready drone army. Rather, it gives a glimpse of its future strategy.
America wants to reduce dependence on expensive weapons, spread its military power in different places and integrate regional countries with itself.
However, translating this plan into a truly effective military force will not be easy. For this, production of large numbers of drones and equipment, political consent of allied countries and a mechanism that can prevent a limited conflict from turning into a major regional war will be necessary.
