By Mike Stone, David Jeans and Joey Roulette March 3 (Reuters) - The U.S. successfully debuted a low‑cost suicide drone in combat in Iran just eight months after its Pentagon unveiling, as the U.S. pushes to accelerate weapons programs.

German firm Skylance unveiled its low-cost "DroneHammer" anti-drone missile as Berlin moves to expand Bundeswehr powers under a reformed Aviation Security Act.View on euronews

The drone's development comes as the Pentagon pushes to procure and field inexpensive drones to keep pace with adversaries.

The Shahed drones became widely known after Russia used large numbers of them in its war against Ukraine, launching repeated swarm attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure and cities.

Five European nations have announced a new program to produce low-cost air defense systems and autonomous drones using Ukrainian expertise hard-won over the past four years of war against Russia.

The Blue UAS List vets commercial drones for security and supply chain risks. The program is one part of DoD's bet on drone warfare.

The U.S. military has activated what officials describe as America’s first dedicated one-way attack drone squadron in the Middle East, marking a shift toward lower-cost unmanned weapons systems.