Iranian outlets published the first imagery of the U.S. autonomous underwater vehicle that the IRGC claims to have seized in the Strait of Hormuz, identified as Anduril’s Dive LD. The images, released Tuesday evening, show the drone in apparently intact condition, which the outlets assessed could allow Iranian engineers to reverse-engineer its technologies. The release follows an earlier IRGC statement identifying the captured vehicle and has not been independently confirmed.
Iranian media outlets released the first photographic evidence Tuesday evening of the U.S. autonomous underwater vehicle that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed to have captured in the Strait of Hormuz. The images show the Anduril Dive LD — a long-endurance unmanned underwater vehicle capable of depths up to 6,000 meters — in apparently intact condition, leading Iranian analysts to assess that Tehran could reverse-engineer its technologies, though this remains speculative and unverified.
The release follows a series of IRGC statements on Tuesday. At 17:50 Jerusalem, the IRGC first claimed to have seized an advanced U.S. autonomous submarine, describing it as equipped with cutting-edge technology and slated for U.S. Navy delivery in 2025. Within the same hour, the IRGC identified the captured vehicle as the Anduril Dive LD and said it was taken in a complex intelligence operation. The Zioneer reported the identification at 18:41 Jerusalem. The U.S. has not commented on either the capture or the imagery, and the claims remain independently unverified.
The incident is the latest in a pattern of U.S.-Iran friction in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical maritime chokepoint. As The Zioneer has previously reported, the area has seen multiple confrontations, including U.S. interceptions of Iranian drones and strikes on Iranian coastal radar sites. The IRGC has also warned Gulf states against hosting American bases, signaling that Tehran views U.S. regional presence as a target.
It remains unclear whether the vehicle was genuinely captured in the manner the IRGC described, whether the images are authentic, and whether any reverse-engineering is feasible. No independent confirmation of the capture or the drone's condition has emerged, and the U.S. military has not issued a statement.
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Source and signal
- Open-source intake