U.S. Central Command said that an American submarine drone captured by Iran near the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday “malfunctioned” and pushed back on claims by Iranian state media that it nabbed a high-tech surveillance vehicle.
A CENTCOM spokesperson, Navy Capt. Tim Hawkins, told NOTUS in a statement that the drone was surveying waters in the region to support ongoing military operations and malfunctioned more than a day ago.
“The defective drone was an older model that neither collected sensitive data nor carried any classified sonar or radar equipment,” Hawkins said. “U.S. operations in area waters continue.”
The statement counters Iranian officials who said that the underwater vehicle was one of the “most modern” and “smart” submarines and was equipped with “the latest” technology.
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Iranian state-run media reported that the submarine was capable of “surveillance, seabed mapping, mine detection and inspection of submarine cables and pipelines.” Iranian state TV also released an image of the unmanned submersible vehicle on Tuesday.
A spokesperson for Anduril, which manufactures the vehicle, issued a statement later Tuesday.
“Dive-LD is an attritable autonomous system, meaning it is designed from the outset to operate in dangerous environments where loss of the vehicle is an expected possibility,” the spokesperson said. “Its purpose is to keep warfighters out of the most dangerous parts of the undersea mission. This vehicle had already delivered significant value operating thousands of hours in months-long operations in CENTCOM.”
The Strait of Hormuz remains locked in a military stalemate after U.S. forces struck three Iranian oil tankers following attacks on Navy warships over the weekend. The American military warned Saturday it would “if necessary, destroy Iran’s limited and exposed oil fleet.”
The incident came after President Donald Trump called the conflict “small potatoes” last week and negotiations to end the war have largely lapsed.
This story has been updated to include a statement from Anduril.
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