Underwater drone capture gives Tehran opportunity to reverse engineer vessel

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-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 U.S. military moved swiftly to prevent Iranian forces from taking possession of uncrewed maritime technology. In 2022, a U.S. Navy patrol ship and MH-60S Seahawk helicopter were deployed after an Iranian naval vessel attempted to tow away a Saildrone surface vessel in the Gulf, according to the Navy. The vessel, a Dive-LD autonomous underwater vehicle, is designed for long-range surveillance and other undersea missions. (AFP)