U.S. Military Says Seized Drone in Strait of Hormuz Was Defective and Carried No Sensitive Data

The U.S. military on Tuesday said an unmanned submersible that Iran reportedly seized in the Strait of Hormuz was "defective" and carried no sensitive data or classified equipment.

"An underwater drone operated by U.S. forces malfunctioned more than a day ago," U.S. Navy Captain Tim Hawkins told CNBC in a statement shared by U.S. Central Command.

The drone "was surveying regional waters in support of ongoing operations," Hawkins said, adding, "U.S. operations in area waters continue."

Iran's Revolutionary Guard had boasted earlier Tuesday that it trapped and captured "one of the most modern, intelligent, unmanned submarines of the American terrorist army at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz," according to a translated post from Iranian state news outlet Fars.

Fars later posted videos and images purporting to show the vessel out of the water.

But Hawkins' statement insisted that the drone was hardly a crucial piece of cutting-edge military tech.

"The defective drone was an older model that neither collected sensitive data nor carried any classified sonar or radar equipment," the captain's statement said.

Iranian media outlets described the sub as a Dive-LD, an autonomous undersea vehicle developed by U.S. defense contractor Anduril. They cost $2.5 million each, DefenseScoop reported in 2024.

The development came three days after the U.S. and Iran traded new attacks in the Persian Gulf, rekindling kinetic hostilities in the region even as the Trump administration shifts its strategy toward defeating Tehran economically.

Centcom said it struck three Iranian crude oil carriers in retaliation for Guard firing ballistic missiles at two Navy warships.

The U.S. military later struck multiple Iranian tankers in response to new attempted missile attacks on a Navy warship, MS NOW reported Tuesday afternoon, citing an unnamed U.S. official. Centcom did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment on the report.

The spotlight on the watercraft offers the latest example of the U.S. military's increasing dependence on autonomous tech to fight the war in the Middle East.

This summer, unmanned boat startup Saronic used one of its drone vessels to rescue crew from a helicopter downed in the Hormuz Strait. Saronic's boats were later used in a strike on an Iranian submarine and ship facility.

— CNBC's Samantha Subin contributed to this report.