Another "pickup" of U.S. military equipment? Iran has now seized the latest model
The unmanned underwater vehicle recently launched by the U.S. military was thus retrieved by Iran.
On the 8th, Iran's Revolutionary Guard announced that it had captured a U.S. unmanned underwater vehicle in the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. Central Command subsequently confirmed the report but argued that the "lost" vehicle was an older model and did not carry classified data or equipment—implying that Iran's capture was essentially useless.
However, photos released by Iran quickly debunked this claim. By analyzing the photo details, it became clear that the captured device was not outdated—it was a large-scale unmanned underwater vehicle developed by Anduril Industries: approximately 5 meters long, about 1.2 meters in diameter, weighing 3 tons, with a maximum diving depth of up to 6,000 meters, capable of carrying out intelligence gathering, surveillance, reconnaissance, and mine warfare missions. The first such vehicle was only delivered to the U.S. Navy last year—clearly not the "outdated model" claimed by the U.S. Central Command.
Considering previous U.S. operations, this underwater vehicle was likely deployed to detect and locate Iranian mines laid in the strait—only to be fully captured by Iran in return.
The U.S. website "The War Zone" believes that if the Trump administration continues failing to end the conflict with Iran, as tensions escalate, more and more U.S. military equipment will likely be shot down or captured by Iran, increasing both public relations disadvantages and the risk of technological leakage.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1875831699430411/
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