As US claims destruction of 5 Iranian oil tankers, Iran captures US submarine
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Amid fierce fighting between the US and Iran, a sophisticated, modern, and highly intelligent unmanned submarine called Dive-LD, which was operating for the US, was lost to Iran, which claimed to have captured the submersible at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz, while the US claimed to have destroyed five Iranian crude oil carriers.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said its naval forces had conducted a complex intelligence and operational mission at dawn to trap what it described as one of the “most modern, intelligent, unmanned submarines” operated by the US military.
Iranian state media identified the vessel as the Dive-LD, an autonomous underwater vehicle developed by California-based defence company Anduril Industries, which is reportedly designed for extended underwater missions, including surveillance, seabed mapping, mine detection and intelligence gathering.
As the US response is pending about the loss, an unnamed Pentagon official confirmed to Reuters the loss of one of the submarines on survey duty in the region to support ongoing operations; however, he linked the loss to its aging, which had failed to collect sensitive information or carry classified sonar or radar equipment.
Anduril has also confirmed the loss, describing the Dive-LD as an “attritable autonomous system” designed to operate in dangerous environments, which can dive to depths of up to 6,000 metres and remain operational for as long as 10 days.
The reported capture comes as the war around the Strait of Hormuz enters an increasingly dangerous phase, with Iran launching attacks against US military installations and naval assets across the region, while the US has intensified operations against Iranian ships and infrastructure.
The conflict has placed enormous pressure on both sides. At least 18 US soldiers have reportedly been killed, while thousands of people in Iran and Lebanon have died in Israeli and American attacks. Iranian strikes have also damaged facilities hosting US forces in Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain.
The Strait of Hormuz has consequently become the central arena of the conflict. Before the war, roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas supplies passed through the narrow waterway, making any prolonged disruption there a matter of global economic concern.