Earlier this week, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed it had captured an American unmanned submarine near the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz. Unfortunately, this wasn’t just another piece of Iranian propaganda: Anduril founder Palmer Luckey, whose company specializes in AI-powered military equipment and vehicles, including the first autonomous fighter jet and this very autonomous sub, confirmed the capture. 

In a post on social media, Luckey assured the public that the unmanned vehicle was designed to operate in hostile territory where capture is an expected possibility. He lauded the service of the unmanned sub, revealing it had provided "significant value" to U.S. forces in the region for months. The capture was revealed to be in part because of a malfunction.

"Everyone watching Iran's state-run TV news program probably noticed they picked up an Anduril Dive-LD, our mass-produced attritable submarine," Luckey wrote on X. "This particular vehicle has been swimming in CENTCOM for months, successfully operating in support of American forces for thousands of hours.  It was explicitly designed to operate in environments too dangerous for humans where capture is an expected possibility."

"I can't get into the details, but it provided significant value for months before capture," he added. "Rest in peace, little buddy."

On Tuesday, the IRGC announced in a statement that they had “trapped one of the most modern, intelligent, unmanned submarines of the terrorist US army at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz.” 

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They added that it was a “complex intelligence and operational mastermind operation at dawn today,” and that the "smart submersible features the latest technology in the submersible field in the world, and was delivered to the U.S....fleet in 2025.”

So far, no serious concerns have been raised by American officials that Iran could extract sensitive information, or even advanced technology it might wield against the U.S., from the captured drone.

This comes as the Iran war has already featured several unmanned vehicles in combat, underscoring how advanced technology can be deployed to save lives. Just months ago, after the IRGC downed an Apache helicopter over the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. Navy sent an unmanned speedboat to rescue the two pilots. That autonomous vessel was produced by a Texas-based company: Saronic Technologies.