'Iran likely to reverse-engineer captured US underwater drone - Reuters'

 

Iran is likely to study and attempt to reverse-engineer a captured US military underwater drone, Reuters reported Wednesday, citing analysts.

The Dive-LD autonomous underwater vehicle, made by Anduril, was recovered by Iranian forces after US Navy officials said the older-model vessel suffered a malfunction and was left “dead in the water.”

“Iranian engineers could definitely reverse-engineer the mechanical systems,” Bryan Clark of the Hudson Institute told Reuters, pointing to Tehran’s history of exploiting captured US technology.

Farzin Nadimi of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy said the seizure could help the IRGC “make better versions of their own designs,” though analysts said Iran was unlikely to gain a decisive military advantage from the drone.

The seizure recalls recalls Iran’s 2011 capture of a US RQ-170 Sentinel stealth drone, which Tehran later said it had reverse-engineered before unveiling domestically produced models resembling the aircraft.

https://www.iranintl.com/en/202609097896