US refutes claims that Iran captured Saildrone USV

A video shared by Iran Wednesday purported to show an American Saildrone unmanned surface vessel near the Strait of Hormuz in flames after being attacked by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has been making the rounds on social media.

U.S. officials disputed that claim.

“All of our Saildrones are accounted for and fully operational,” an official told Military Times.

The video comes on the heels of another incident in which an Anduril Dive-LD autonomous underwater vehicle — designed for long-range surveillance and other undersea missions — was captured on Sept. 8.

U.S. Navy Capt. Tim Hawkins of U.S. Central Command told Reuters that the “defective drone was an older model that neither collected sensitive data nor carried any classified sonar or radar equipment.”

“Of course Iran will take every opportunity as a propaganda win,” Farzin Nadimi, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told the outlet. “It can help the (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) make better versions of their own designs.”

The Navy recently awarded Saildrone Voyager a $16.3 million task order to extend operations of the Voyager fleet in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, according to an August release .

Since 2023, Saildrone’s USVs have worked in coordination with the U.S. Navy, supporting the Joint Interagency Task Force South, or JIATF-S, and U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. Navy Fourth Fleet, per the release.

The 33-foot-long Voyager is designed for persistent surface and subsurface surveillance and can also conduct nearshore mapping missions and seafloor characterization.

Able to remain “on mission and on station” for months at a time, the USVs are “both a deterrent and an alarm” along the U.S.’s expansive southern maritime border, according to the company.

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.

伊朗周三分享的一段视频在社交媒体上疯传，视频显示一艘美国Saildrone无人水面舰艇在霍尔木兹海峡附近遭到伊斯兰革命卫队袭击后起火燃烧。

美国官员对这一说法提出异议。

一位官员告诉《军事时报》：“我们所有的帆船无人机都已清点完毕，并且完全可以运行。”

这段视频发布之前，9 月 8 日还发生了另一起事件，一艘专为远程监视和其他水下任务而设计的 Anduril Dive-LD 自主水下航行器被拍到。

美国中央司令部海军上校蒂姆·霍金斯告诉路透社，“这架有缺陷的无人机是较旧的型号，既没有收集敏感数据，也没有携带任何机密声纳或雷达设备。”

“伊朗当然会把每一次机会都当作宣传上的胜利，”华盛顿近东政策研究所高级研究员法尔津·纳迪米告诉媒体，“这有助于（伊斯兰革命卫队）改进他们自己的设计。”

据8月份发布的消息，海军最近授予Saildrone Voyager公司一份价值1630万美元的任务订单，以延长Voyager舰队在加勒比海和东太平洋的行动。

根据新闻稿，自 2023 年以来，Saildrone 的无人水面艇 (USV) 一直与美国海军协调合作，为南方联合跨部门特遣部队 (JIATF-S) 和美国海军南方司令部/美国海军第四舰队提供支持。

长 33 英尺的 Voyager 号专为持续进行水面和水下监视而设计，还可以执行近岸测绘任务和海底特征分析。

据该公司称，这些无人水面艇能够“执行任务并驻守岗位”数月之久，对美国广阔的南部海上边界而言，既是一种威慑，也是一种警报。

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。