Iran’s capture of a US military underwater drone has given Tehran an opportunity to examine the vessel and potentially reverse engineer its technology, representing a setback for the Pentagon and drone manufacturer Anduril.
The US military and Anduril have played down the importance of the drone ending up in Iranian possession. The vessel, a Dive-LD autonomous underwater vehicle designed for long-range surveillance and other undersea operations, belongs to a newer generation of military drones built to remain operational for days with minimal human involvement. The US has previously regarded the loss of sophisticated drones to Iran as a significant concern.
In 2011, Iran captured an RQ-170 Sentinel stealth surveillance drone. Then-US President Barack Obama publicly called on Tehran to return the aircraft. Iran later claimed it had reverse-engineered the drone and subsequently displayed domestically manufactured versions that appeared to borrow substantially from its design.
More recently, the US military acted quickly to stop Iran from acquiring uncrewed maritime technology. In 2022, a US Navy patrol vessel and an MH-60S Seahawk helicopter were sent into action after an Iranian naval ship tried to tow away a Saildrone surface vessel in the Gulf, according to the Navy.
Analysts believe the captured drone is unlikely to provide Iran with a major military advantage. However, the incident still amounts to a propaganda success for Tehran and an uncomfortable setback for Washington as it seeks to demonstrate its technological superiority.
IRANIAN EMBASSIES MOCK US
Iranian diplomatic missions across the world have mocked the US over the loss of its drone.
In a post on X, Iran’s embassy in Ghana bragged about recovering the submersible in “a strait controlled by people who can hear a shrimp sneeze,” saying, “Our guys picked it up like a plastic bottle in a fishing net. Fully intact. Still blinking like an idiot. Condolences to whoever was holding the joystick.”
Anduril and the Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
“Of course, Iran will take every opportunity as a propaganda win,” said Farzin Nadimi, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. He added that the incident could help the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps develop improved versions of its own designs.
Iran is almost certain to attempt to examine the drone’s internal hardware, but its software contains built-in protections, according to Bryan Clark, a senior fellow and director of the Centre for Defence Concepts and Technology at the Hudson Institute. Iranian engineers “could definitely reverse-engineer the mechanical systems,” he said, noting Iran’s previous experience with captured American aircraft.
“Unboxing ceremony by our reverse engineers, tomorrow morning!” Iran’s embassy in Hyderabad wrote on X.
The incident has also exposed a difference between how Anduril describes the drone and how its customer, the US Navy, has characterised the vessel.
Navy officials said the Dive-LD was an older version that experienced a malfunction and was subsequently recovered by Iranian forces after being left “dead in the water.”
Anduril, however, has described the Dive-LD as “the most reliable and flexible” large autonomous underwater vehicle available, claiming that it can operate for as long as 10 days in challenging conditions.
“This is something that Iran has proven very adept at exploiting for its own benefit in terms of seeking to frame the narrative as one of US, in this case, ineptitude and their ability to sort of retain control over the Strait of Hormuz,” said Mona Yacoubian, director of the Middle East programme at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.
