Sea drones strike Iranian port in combat first for US

U.S. Central Command utilized three Corsair unmanned surface vessels to strike a submarine and ship maintenance facility at the Bandar Abbas naval base in Iran, marking the “first time American forces have employed sea drones in combat operations,” CENTCOM confirmed on X on Monday.

The latest round of strikes by the U.S. comes after it revoked a license on July 7 that allowed Iran to sell oil. U.S. President Donald Trump declared the ceasefire between the two nations — which began on April 8 — to be over, but ceded that Iran had agreed to continue to negotiate.

The U.S. military said it hit dozens of Iranian military targets on Sunday, which included the first-ever combat use of Corsair USVs to assist in degrading Iran’s ability to continue to attack commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

Built by Saronic, the Corsair is a 24-foot USV that has a range of over 1,000 nautical miles and a payload capacity of 1,000 pounds while surging at 35 knots.

According to the company, “it supports a variety of missions including ISR, surface surveillance, and logistics in both permissive and contested environments. Its embedded AI stack and open architecture allow rapid integration of sensors and autonomy software, making it a flexible platform for modern naval and defense applications.”

While it is the USVs first display in combat, the U.S. Navy has been testing and utilizing Corsair vessels for various missions over the past two years.

Just last month, two soldiers were picked up by a Navy-operated Corsair USV after their Army AH-64 Apache helicopter crashed during a patrol operation near the Strait of Hormuz.

The unique mission marked the first publicized use of the craft outside of testing.

“The surface drone that assisted in last night’s rescue of the Apache crew off the coast of Oman was a U.S. Navy Corsair unmanned surface vessel operated by U.S. 5th Fleet’s Task Force 59,” Capt. Tim Hawkins, a U.S. Central Command spokesperson, said in a statement in June. “The Task Force began fielding these drones in theater in late March.”

In January 2024 the Navy stood up Unmanned Task Group 59.1 , nicknamed “The Pioneers,” to focus on the deployment of unmanned systems in maritime operations teamed that can be teamed with specialized operators to “bolster maritime security across the Middle East region,” according to a press release.

Unmanned Task Group 59.1 is under the aegis of Task Force 59 in the U.S. Fifth Fleet Area of Operations.

At the time, Lt. Luis Echeverria, the commanding officer of the Navy’s Bahrain-based Pioneers, was assigned to “stress-test” unmanned surface vessels.

According to previous Navy Times reporting, a handful of unmanned vessels were launched from Aqaba, Jordan, into the Red Sea with a broad-edged surveillance mission: to observe the “pattern of life” in the region and increase maritime domain awareness.

With the latest Corsair attacks on the Iranian port, that mission has shifted to incorporate strikes.

Claire Barrett is an editor and military history correspondent for Military Times. She is also a World War II researcher with an unparalleled affinity for Sir Winston Churchill and Michigan football.

美国中央司令部周一在X频道证实，美国中央司令部动用了三艘海盗式无人水面舰艇，袭击了伊朗阿巴斯港海军基地的潜艇和舰艇维修设施，这标志着“美军首次在作战行动中使用海上无人机”。

美国最新一轮空袭发生在7月7日吊销伊朗石油出口许可证之后。美国总统特朗普宣布两国自4月8日开始的停火协议已经结束，但他承认伊朗已同意继续谈判。

美国军方表示，周日打击了数十个伊朗军事目标，其中包括首次在实战中使用“海盗”无人水面艇，以削弱伊朗继续通过霍尔木兹海峡袭击商船的能力。

Corsair 由 Saronic 公司制造，是一款 24 英尺长的无人水面艇，航程超过 1000 海里，有效载荷能力为 1000 磅，航速可达 35 节。

该公司表示，“该平台支持多种任务，包括情报、监视与侦察（ISR）、水面监视以及在安全或对抗环境下的后勤保障。其嵌入式人工智能堆栈和开放式架构可快速集成传感器和自主软件，使其成为现代海军和国防应用的灵活平台。”

虽然这是USV首次在实战中亮相，但美国海军在过去两年中一直在测试和使用Corsair舰艇执行各种任务。

就在上个月，两名士兵乘坐的陆军 AH-64 阿帕奇直升机在霍尔木兹海峡附近的一次巡逻行动中坠毁，之后被海军运营的“海盗”无人水面艇救起。

这次独特的任务标志着该飞行器在测试之外的首次公开使用。

美国中央司令部发言人蒂姆·霍金斯上校在6月份的一份声明中表示：“昨晚在阿曼海岸附近协助营救阿帕奇直升机机组人员的水面无人机是美国海军第五舰队第59特遣部队操作的‘海盗’无人水面舰艇。该特遣部队于3月下旬开始在战区部署这些无人机。”

根据一份新闻稿，2024 年 1 月，美国海军成立了无人特遣队 59.1，绰号“先锋队”，专注于在海上行动中部署无人系统，这些系统可以与专业操作人员合作，“以加强整个中东地区的海上安全”。

无人特遣队 59.1 隶属于美国第五舰队作战区域内的第 59 特遣部队。

当时，驻巴林海军先锋队的指挥官路易斯·埃切维里亚中尉被指派对无人水面舰艇进行“压力测试”。

据《海军时报》此前报道，几艘无人船从约旦亚喀巴下水进入红海，执行一项广泛的监视任务：观察该地区的“生活模式”，提高海上态势感知能力。

随着海盗式战斗机最近对伊朗港口的袭击，该任务已转变为包括空袭。

克莱尔·巴雷特是《军事时报》的编辑和军事历史记者。她也是一位二战研究员，对温斯顿·丘吉尔爵士和密歇根大学橄榄球队有着无与伦比的热爱。