US military confirms Iranian attempt to capture American surface drone

The US military “forcefully responded” and foiled an Iranian attempt to capture an American surface drone, the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) said.

“I can confirm that Iranian small boats recently attempted to take possession of a US unmanned surface vessel, but they were unsuccessful after CENTCOM forcefully responded,” Capt. Tim Hawkins said in a statement.

“The surface drone remains under US operational control,” he added.

On Monday, Iranian state media claimed that US forces attacked a pair of fishing boats.

This comes after Iran captured an American underwater drone, which Anduril and the Pentagon confirmed.

The Anduril founder said the Dive-LD captured by Iran had been in Middle East waters for months, was designed to operate where capture is expected, and provided “significant value”

Hawkins previously said the drone was “defective” and an older model that “neither collected sensitive data nor carried any classified sonar or radar equipment.”