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.”