Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Tuesday that it had captured a US unmanned underwater vehicle near the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz, claiming the vessel was among the most advanced systems operated by the US military.In a statement published by Sepah media, they claimed that the unmanned submarine was the “most modern, smart” unmanned submarines device. Iranian state media identified the vehicle as the Dive-LD, an autonomous underwater vehicle manufactured by California-based defence technology company Anduril Industries. The IRGC Navy said it had intercepted the submarine at the entrance to the strategically important strait and described it as a “prize” now in Iranian possession.
The US military, however, disputed the significance of the incident. A Pentagon spokesperson said an underwater drone had malfunctioned more than a day before Iran announced the seizure and had been surveying regional waters as part of ongoing US operations.The defective vehicle was an older Dive-LD model and “neither collected sensitive data nor carried any classified sonar or radar equipment”, the spokesperson said.A US Central Command spokesperson, Navy Capt Tim Hawkins, separately told DefenseScoop that the drone had effectively been “dead in the water” for more than a day before the IRGC claimed to have captured it. Hawkins said US operations in the area were continuing.Anduril confirmed that one of its Dive-LD vessels had been lost but played down the military significance of its capture.“Dive-LD is an attritable autonomous system,” an Anduril spokesperson said, meaning the vehicle was designed to operate in dangerous environments where losing the system was considered an expected possibility. The company said the vehicle’s purpose was to keep personnel away from the most dangerous parts of undersea operations and that the vessel had already delivered significant value during thousands of hours of operations in the US Central Command area.
What is the Dive-LD?
The Dive-LD is a roughly 5.8-metre (19-foot) autonomous underwater vehicle weighing about three tonnes. According to Anduril, it can operate for up to 10 days without returning to base and dive to depths of around 6,000 metres (19,700 feet).The vehicle has a modular design that allows it to carry different sensors and payloads. Its stated missions include intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, mine countermeasures, seabed mapping and inspection of underwater infrastructure such as cables and pipelines.US defence officials have been investing heavily in autonomous underwater and surface systems as a way to monitor large areas, gather intelligence and track adversary vessels without exposing sailors to danger. DefenseScoop reported in 2024 that Dive-LD systems cost about $2.5 million each at the time.The US Navy began receiving Dive-LD systems in 2025, with the vehicles being used by its unmanned undersea units. Anduril is also supplying the Navy with the larger Dive-XL system, which shares design characteristics with Australia’s Ghost Shark autonomous submarine.
Iran’s underwater warfare capabilities
The reported seizure offers Iran access to a system significantly more sophisticated than its domestically produced underwater drones. Iran has nevertheless developed its own autonomous and weaponised underwater systems and has supplied at least some of them to the Houthi movement in Yemen, according to analysis of weapons shipments.The loss of the US vehicle could therefore provide Iran with an opportunity to study its design and technology. There has also been speculation that information obtained from the system could potentially be shared with Iran’s partners, including Russia or China, although there is no confirmation that this has happened.The IRGC has released images of the captured vehicle. Images and videos circulated by Iranian state media showed a partially submerged drone that closely resembled the Dive-LD, with visual details including its overall shape, flood holes, fastenings and a small transparent mast appearing consistent with the US-made system.However, the precise circumstances of how the vehicle was recovered remain unclear. The US account indicates that the drone had already malfunctioned and was no longer operational before Iranian forces obtained it.