The American underwater drone that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy claims to have seized near the Strait of Hormuz was an older Anduril Dive-LD that was “defective and malfunctioning well before” the alleged capture, according to a U.S. Central Command spokesperson.
'Dead in the water for more than a day'
Iranian state media on Tuesday depicted an Anduril-branded uncrewed undersea vessel allegedly caught by IRGC forces near the entrance to the highly contested strait. Centcom spokesperson Navy Capt. Tim Hawkins told DefenseScoop that the vehicle “was essentially dead in the water for more than a day” when Iran picked it up. Hawkins said the drone had been surveying regional waters in support of ongoing operations and stressed that the UUV “neither collected sensitive data nor carried any classified sonar or radar equipment.”
Replicator-era autonomy in a torpedo-shaped hull
The Dive-LD is a 3-ton, torpedo-shaped autonomous underwater vehicle purpose-built for multi-week battlespace ISR, mine counter-warfare, anti-submarine warfare and seafloor mapping. It was among the capabilities the Pentagon rapidly mass-produced and fielded through the Replicator initiative, and it has been reportedly priced around $2.5 million per unit. Centcom emphasised the lost vehicle was “an older model” of the Dive-LD line.
Backdrop: Operation Epic Fury and the Hormuz mine-clearing push
The incident comes amid the ongoing U.S.-Iran conflict and Operation Epic Fury, and after Centcom's earlier commitment of “exquisite technology” to clear underwater mines and secure passage through the strait. It follows a run of maritime-drone milestones including the $192M Army TITAN production award to Palantir and Anduril and the Hermeus–Anduril Lattice integration on Quarterhorse Mk 2. “U.S. operations in area waters continue,” Hawkins told DefenseScoop.
Reporting based on coverage from DefenseScoop, U.S. Central Command, Iran International and Anduril's Dive-LD product page.