Iran’s capture of a US uncrewed underwater vehicle (UUV), Dive-LD drone, at the entrance of the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday could have ramifications for the US despite the drone not having sensitive mission systems onboard, according to experts.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it captured the drone in a complex intelligence and operational operation. Some hours later, the Fars News Agency published "the first photos of the submarine.
The US official told Reuters that a US unmanned vessel had broken down while surveying waters off Iran. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the damaged vessel was an older model and did not carry classified sonar or radar equipment. "The malfunction occurred more than a day ago," the official added.
The vehicle, Dive-LD, is a three-tonne drone which is 5.8 metres long and 1.2 metres in diameter. The UUV can remain at sea for around 10 days at a time, depending on its exact configuration, and do so with a high degree of autonomy. The makers call it an attritable autonomous system, which means it is designed from the outset to operate in dangerous environments where the loss of the vehicle is an expected possibility.
A report by the Financial Times mentioned how the US had been using these drones to help clear Iranian mines, citing “people familiar with the operation.”
Not just for mine clearance, these Dive-LDs were also employed in operations for intelligence operations, which could prove critical in a future high-end fight against a peer opponent like China. Its significance also lies in the fact that such a large, unmanned submarine- quiet, durable, and deep-diving - can enter the most dangerous parts of the battlefield without a human aboard.
For the same reason, the loss of a Dive-LD intact to Iran can hit the US hard. Though it doesn’t boast bleeding-edge technology, it is still an advanced modern system, and Iran would be interested in gaining insights into its capabilities and limitations.
It is unclear if the US ever made any attempt to recover the vehicle. However, the fact that it was not destroyed before or while the Iranians were retrieving it points to American forces having completely lost any sense of its location beforehand.
Iran has always shown interest in collecting foreign hardware, case in point the unmanned UAV RQ-170 Sentinel in 2011. The Islamic regime has also worked to reverse engineer the drone and would likely do the same to the Dive -LD. Another headache for the US is that it could even share the information with its allies and American foes, including China and Russia.
Besides all this, the capture has also become a propaganda tool for the Iranian government.
