Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has captured a US Navy autonomous underwater vehicle near the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz, bringing attention to a class of uncrewed systems the US military is increasingly using for operations below the surface.
Iranian authorities identified the vehicle as an Anduril Dive-LD and described it as one of the most advanced unmanned underwater systems operated by the US military. The IRGC said its naval forces intercepted the vehicle during an intelligence and operational operation and subsequently released images of the captured platform.
The exact circumstances surrounding the recovery have not been independently established.
The US military has acknowledged the loss but disputes the Iranian characterization of the incident. As reported by news outlets, a US Central Command spokesman said the vehicle had malfunctioned more than a day before Iran announced its capture and described it as an older Dive-LD that was effectively “dead in the water.”
The vehicle shown in Iranian images corresponds to the design of Anduril's Dive-LD, a large-diameter autonomous undersea vehicle developed for long-endurance missions.
Anduril delivered its first Dive-LD autonomous underwater vehicle to the US Navy in April 2025. Navy personnel had already been seen training with the platform several months earlier, following the release of an image in November 2024. The number of Dive-LD vehicles currently in US Navy service has not been publicly disclosed.
Dive-LD is approximately 5.8 meters long and 1.2 meters in diameter. The platform is designed to operate autonomously for up to 10 days and can reach depths of up to 6,000 meters.
The platform is considerably larger than many conventional small underwater drones. Its size provides space for a substantial battery and payload capacity while allowing the vehicle to carry different sensors and mission equipment.
Anduril designed the Dive-LD around a modular architecture, allowing the same basic vehicle to be configured for different missions. The system is created to operate without a crew and can be launched using several methods, including from a pier, a vessel or through towed deployment. Its combination of endurance, depth and payload capacity gives it capabilities that go well beyond those of small commercial underwater survey drones, according to Anduril.
The company has described the vehicle as capable of supporting intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, intelligence preparation of the operational environment, mine warfare and precision placement missions. The platform can also be used for seabed mapping and inspection of underwater infrastructure, including cables and pipelines.
The Dive-LD is part of a much broader US effort to expand the use of autonomous systems at sea. The US Navy has been developing and testing larger unmanned underwater vehicles alongside smaller AUVs, unmanned surface vessels and other autonomous platforms. The objective is to extend the reach of the navy forces by performing missions such as surveillance, reconnaissance, mine warfare and environmental data collection.