Iran to begin reverse-engineering captured US underwater drone: IRGC

The spokesperson for the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) says Iran will begin reverse-engineering a US underwater drone captured by IRGC Navy forces.

Speaking in an interview published on Tuesday, Brigadier General Hossein Mohebbi discussed the performance of Iran’s Armed Forces against advanced US military equipment during the recent US-Israeli aggression.

“The war demonstrated that the most advanced US technologies used in the military and defense industries have come under Iran’s control,” Mohebbi said.

He cited the US F-35 fighter jet as a prominent example, saying the aircraft incorporates advanced technologies in areas including body alloys, capabilities, stealth, flight ceiling and weapons-carrying capacity.

According to the IRGC spokesman, the F-35, which uses some of the latest technologies, “was targeted by the emerging and advanced air-defense systems of the IRGC Aerospace Force.”

Mohebbi also referred to the capture of a US underwater vessel by IRGC Navy forces, saying the vessel contains advanced technology that has fallen into the hands of Iranian forces.

“This advanced technology exists in the underwater vessel that fell into the hands of the IRGC Navy forces, and its reverse engineering will begin,” he said.

The IRGC spokesman further pointed to Iran’s possession of various types of aircraft, underwater vessels and unmanned vessels, saying, “Today, we have a collection of different combat, support, transport, and reconnaissance aircraft.”

According to Reuters, analysts say Iran is unlikely to ​gain a decisive military advantage from the captured underwater drone, but the episode nonetheless represents an awkward setback for Washington's efforts to project technological superiority.

IRGC Navy seizes cutting-edge US unmanned submersible in Strait of Hormuz

The unmanned submersible incorporates some of the world

Earlier in September, the IRGC Navy announced it had successfully intercepted and captured a highly advanced, unmanned American underwater vehicle at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz.

The IRGC Navy stated that the seizure was carried out following a “complex intelligence and operational action.”

The unmanned vessel incorporates some of the world’s most advanced underwater technology and was delivered to the US terrorist military in 2025, the statement said.

The IRGC announced that photographic evidence and detailed footage of the captured US asset would be released in the coming hours.

Iranian news agency Tasnim identified the captured system as a Dive-LD, an autonomous unmanned underwater vehicle developed by US defense technology company Anduril Industries and first delivered to the US Navy’s Unmanned Undersea Vehicle Group 1 in 2025.

The vehicle is approximately 5.8 meters long, has a diameter of about 1.2 meters and weighs roughly 2.7 tonnes.

Its published specifications include an endurance of up to 10 days underwater and a maximum operating depth of around 6,000 meters.

Designed as a modular autonomous platform, the Dive-LD can be configured for missions including intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, seabed mapping, infrastructure inspection and mine-countermeasure operations.

The capture comes amid a sharp escalation between Iran and the United States over the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most strategically important maritime chokepoints.

Over the past decade, Iranian forces have successfully downed or captured numerous high-value US assets, including the RQ-170 Sentinel stealth drone, MQ-9 Reaper drones, and various underwater gliders and surface vessels in the Persian Gulf.

Reverse-engineering these captured technologies has historically played a significant role in accelerating Iran’s domestic drone and unmanned naval programs.

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