Air Force recovers drone pulled from Gulf of Mexico by Florida fishing charter

A Pensacola, Florida, charter fishing group recovered a large military drone that had been pulled from Gulf of Mexico waters. The group, Hot Spots Charters, found the unmanned aircraft about 20 miles southeast of the Pensacola pass during a six-hour trip on Saturday, then reported and gathered it for pickup from their aircraft. Captain Daniel Arsenault said it initially looked like an upside-down skiff. Eglin Air Force Base later confirmed the drone was a LUCAS UAS that impacted the water during routine scheduled testing on the Eglin AFB Range last Thursday. LUCAS stands for Low-cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System. The Navy contacted the crew to locate it, and sheriff’s officials took it.