Iran likely to reverse-engineer captured US underwater drone

Iran's capture of a U.S. military underwater drone gives Tehran an opportunity to study and potentially reverse engineer the vessel, delivering a setback for the Pentagon and drone maker Anduril.



The U.S. military and Anduril have downplayed the significance of the drone falling into Iranian hands. The vessel, a Dive-LD autonomous underwater vehicle designed for long-range surveillance and other undersea missions, is among a new generation of military drones intended to operate for days

with little human intervention. Washington has previously treated the loss of advanced drones to Iran as a serious matter.



After Iran captured an RQ-170 Sentinel stealth reconnaissance drone in 2011, then-President Barack Obama publicly asked Tehran to return the aircraft. Iran later claimed it had reverse-engineered the drone and subsequently unveiled domestically produced models that appeared to draw heavily on

its design.