Iran captures US military underwater drone, raising reverse-engineering concerns

Iran’s capture of a US military underwater drone gives Tehran an opportunity to study and potentially reverse-engineer the vessel, delivering a setback for the Pentagon and drone maker Anduril.

The US military and Anduril have downplayed the significance of the drone falling into Iranian hands.

The vessel, a Dive-LD autonomous underwater vehicle designed for long-range surveillance and other undersea missions, is among a new generation of military drones intended to operate for days with little human intervention.

Washington has previously treated the loss of advanced drones to Iran as a serious matter.

After Iran captured an RQ-170 Sentinel stealth reconnaissance drone in 2011, then US President Barack Obama publicly asked Tehran to return the aircraft. Iran later claimed it had reverse-engineered the drone and subsequently unveiled domestically produced models that appeared to draw heavily on its design.

More recently, the US military moved swiftly to prevent Iranian forces from taking possession of uncrewed maritime technology.