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Iran\u2019s capture of a US \u200bmilitary underwater drone gives Tehran an opportunity to study and potentially reverse engineer the vessel, delivering a setback for the Pentagon and \u200cdrone maker Anduril.<\/strong><\/p>\n The US 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 \u200bserious matter.<\/p>\n 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 \u200bclaimed it had reverse-engineered the drone and subsequently unveiled domestically produced models that appeared to draw heavily on its design.<\/p>\n More recently, \u2060the US military moved swiftly to prevent Iranian forces from taking possession of uncrewed maritime technology. In 2022, a U.S. Navy patrol ship and MH-60S Seahawk \u200bhelicopter were deployed after an Iranian naval vessel attempted to tow away a Saildrone surface vessel in the Gulf, according to the Navy.<\/p>\n Analysts say Iran is unlikely to \u200bgain a decisive military advantage from the captured drone, but the episode nonetheless represents a propaganda victory for Tehran and an awkward setback for Washington\u2019s efforts to project technological superiority.<\/p>\n Iranian embassies around the world have mocked the US for losing its drone. Iran\u2019s embassy in Ghana, in a post on X, boasted about picking the submersible up in \u201ca strait \u200bcontrolled by people who can hear a shrimp sneeze,\u201d adding that, \u201cOur guys picked it up like a plastic bottle in a fishing net. Fully intact. Still \u200bblinking like an idiot. Condolences to whoever was holding the joystick.\u201d<\/p>\n US Navy Captain Tim Hawkins of US Central Command said the \u201cdefective drone was an older model that neither collected sensitive \u200cdata nor carried \u2060any classified sonar or radar equipment.\u201d Anduril did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course Iran will take every opportunity as a propaganda win,\u201d said Farzin Nadimi, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. \u201cIt can help the (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) make better versions of their own designs.\u201d<\/p>\n Iran will almost certainly try to pry open the drone\u2019s hardware, but the drone\u2019s software carries built-in defenses, said Bryan Clark, a senior fellow and director of the Center for \u200bDefense Concepts and Technology at the Hudson \u200bInstitute. Iranian engineers \u201ccould definitely reverse-engineer the \u2060mechanical systems,\u201d he said, pointing to Tehran\u2019s track record with captured American aircraft.<\/p>\n \u201cUnboxing ceremony by our reverse engineers, tomorrow morning!\u201d Iran\u2019s embassy in Hyderabad wrote on X.<\/p>\nIRANIAN EMBASSIES MOCK US<\/strong><\/h2>\n