Major Loss for the United States! Iran Captures Advanced U.S. Unmanned Submersible! On September 8, according to foreign media reports, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps stated that during a complex intelligence operation, it captured an advanced U.S. unmanned submersible "Dive-LD" in the Strait of Hormuz. This underwater vehicle was delivered to the U.S. military in 2025 and is equipped with cutting-edge technologies.
Foreign media noted that the complete capture represents a significant technological gain for Iran, which is likely to study its design, technology, and engineering, and may eventually reverse-engineer it. According to available information, Dive-LD can operate underwater for up to 10 days and dive to depths of 6,000 meters. Its potential missions include underwater surveillance, seabed mapping, mine detection, inspection of submarine cables and pipelines, anti-submarine warfare support, and information transmission.
Evidently, the U.S. deployment of this unmanned submersible in the Strait of Hormuz served two purposes: testing the performance of new equipment and secretly surveying the seabed terrain, collecting hydrological and underwater acoustic environmental data, probing the underwater environment around Iranian coastal ports and land-based missile positions, detecting the locations of Iranian sea mines, and establishing an underwater database for future U.S. Navy vessel passage, wartime anti-submarine operations, and mine-clearance actions. The Strait of Hormuz is extremely sensitive—narrow and strategically vital—and deploying an unmanned submersible is undoubtedly the optimal method to achieve these objectives.
However, the outcome was unexpected: the U.S. failed to sneak in unnoticed and was caught red-handed by Iran. Of course, the specific details of how Iran accomplished this remain unclear, but only Iran knows for sure. For the United States, this is undoubtedly a major blow. Not only did they lose a brand-new piece of equipment, but also the operational mode and data from the submersible are now in Iranian hands. If Iran successfully reverse-engineers and absorbs this U.S. technology, it could one day be used against U.S. warships and aircraft carriers—posing a serious threat to American forces. Clearly, having just deployed a new system only to have it captured must be causing deep pain for the U.S.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1875779474007116/
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