We Captured US Submarine Drone in Strait of Hormuz – Iran

In response to Iranian claims of the capture, a Pentagon spokesperson said a US underwater drone had “malfunctioned more than a day ago.”

Iran says it had captured a US uncrewed submarine at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz, offering a rare glimpse into how underwater drones are being used in military operations.

Iranian state media said the vessel was a Dive-LD, a large autonomous underwater vehicle built by California defense firm Anduril. The 19-foot (5.8-meter) submersible can carry out missions including mine countermeasures, seabed mapping, intelligence gathering, and the inspection of underwater infrastructure such as cables and pipelines, the company has said.

“We trapped one of the most modern, intelligent and unmanned submarines of the terrorist American army at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz. This submersible is equipped with the latest technologies,” the Revolutionary Guards Navy said in a statement carried by Iranian state media.

In response, a Pentagon spokesperson said an underwater drone had “malfunctioned more than a day ago.”

“It was surveying regional waters in support of ongoing operations. The defective drone was an older model that neither collected sensitive data nor carried any classified sonar or radar equipment,” the spokesperson said.

A US one-way attack surface drone approaches its target, a submarine and ship maintenance facility according to US Central Command, in Bandar Abbas, Iran, in this screengrab taken from a video, which was released July 13, 2026.

Anduril confirmed the loss of one of its vessels, but downplayed the significance of the incident.

“Dive-LD is an attritable autonomous system, meaning it is designed from the outset to operate in dangerous environments where loss of the vehicle is an expected possibility,” a company spokesperson said