Iran Seizes US Navy Underwater Drone Near Strait of Hormuz

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) captured an unmanned U.S. Navy submarine at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz on 8 Sep 2026, according to Iranian state media. The vessel was identified as the Dive-LD, a 5.8-meter, 3-ton autonomous underwater system built by U.S. defense contractor Anduril. The IRGC Navy released footage of the nearly intact submarine being salvaged from the sea, describing the operation as involving "complex intelligence and operational activities." A Pentagon spokesperson said the drone had malfunctioned more than a day earlier while surveying regional waters to support ongoing operations, adding that it was an older model that did not carry classified sonar, radar, or sensitive data. The official did not confirm whether Iran had taken custody of the vessel. Anduril acknowledged the loss, calling the Dive-LD a disposable system designed for high-risk environments, noting it had already logged thousands of operational hours under U.S. Central Command over several months. According to Anduril, the Dive-LD can operate for up to 10 days without returning to base, dive to depths of 6,000 meters, and costs around 2.5 million dollars per unit. First fielded in April 2025, it is typically used for mine detection, seabed mapping, and infrastructure inspection in the Strait of Hormuz. The incident echoes a 2011 case in which Iran captured a CIA RQ-170 drone and later reverse-engineered it, and a 2022 episode involving seized U.S. Saildrones in the Red Sea.