Underwater Drones Changing Naval Warfare From Iran To China

Underwater drones are rapidly emerging as a new frontier in naval warfare, with militaries deploying robotic submarines to conduct surveillance, hunt underwater mines and potentially attack enemy vessels.

American underwater drones have already operated during the Iran War, while countries across Europe and the Pacific are developing increasingly sophisticated unmanned submarines capable of carrying weapons. France became the latest country to embrace the technology Tuesday, awarding shipbuilder Naval Group a contract to develop a large autonomous combat submarine with sea trials scheduled for 2028, according to the French Defense Innovation Agency.

Naval Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The growing military importance of underwater drones became apparent in September when Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps captured an American-built Anduril Dive-LD near the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz.

The autonomous submarine had malfunctioned more than a day before Iranian forces recovered it while surveying regional waters in support of American military operations, U.S. Central Command spokesman Navy Capt. Tim Hawkins told DefenseScoop.

Photographs showing the American-made Anduril Dive-LD submarine drone recovered by Iranian forces near the Strait of Hormuz were posted on X by the open-source intelligence account OSINTdefender on Sept. 8.

Anduril did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The captured drone was an older model that carried no classified sonar or radar equipment, Hawkins said. Nevertheless, its recovery provided a rare glimpse into the American military’s use of underwater robots during the conflict, according to DefenseScoop.

The Anduril Dive-LD measures approximately 19 feet long, can operate autonomously for up to 10 days and is designed to reach depths of 6,000 meters, according to Anduril.

The submarine can conduct seabed mapping and mine warfare while carrying interchangeable sensors and other mission equipment, according to Anduril.

The company defended the loss, explaining that the platform was designed for dangerous missions where losing equipment was an accepted risk. The drone had already accumulated thousands of operational hours during months of CENTCOM missions, an Anduril spokesperson told DefenseScoop.

Underwater drones have also become part of American efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz after Iranian forces deployed naval mines throughout the strategic waterway.

The U.S. military announced in April that underwater drones would join mine-clearance operations intended to establish safe shipping corridors through the strait, according to CENTCOM.

The Pentagon has also invested in substantially larger autonomous submarines, including Boeing’s Orca, an unmanned diesel-electric vessel designed for extended missions without a human crew. The Navy accepted its first Orca test vehicle in December 2023, according to Naval Sea Systems Command.

Across the Pacific, Australia has committed approximately 1.7 billion Australian dollars, or $1.19 billion USD, to acquiring a fleet of Anduril Ghost Shark underwater drones capable of conducting surveillance, reconnaissance and strike operations, according to the Australian Defense Ministry.

Australian officials announced additional progress in October, revealing specialized payloads for unmanned underwater vehicles designed to transport supplies, deploy naval mines and launch aerial drones, according to the Australian Defense Ministry.

Britain has already demonstrated the potential for underwater drones to launch conventional submarine weapons.

The Royal Navy successfully fired an inert American Mk48 heavyweight torpedo from its 12-meter-long unmanned submarine Excalibur during September trials off Scotland, according to the Royal Navy.

Ukraine has gone further, claiming to have used explosive underwater drones to attack a Russian Kilo-class submarine inside the port of Novorossiysk in December 2025. The operation involved a domestically developed system called Sub Sea Baby, according to the Security Service of Ukraine.

Ukrainian officials claimed the explosion disabled the submarine, although Moscow denied the reported damage, Reuters reported.

China is developing increasingly sophisticated underwater systems, including autonomous drones capable of locating submerged explosives and operating in areas with extremely poor visibility, according to China Military Online.

Turkey has developed its own autonomous underwater mine-hunting platform, the STM NETA 300, capable of identifying submerged threats at depths of up to 300 meters, according to defense manufacturer STM.

The rapid proliferation of underwater drones could fundamentally alter naval combat by allowing militaries to patrol contested waters and deploy weapons without risking human crews. However, the American drone captured by Iran also demonstrates that increasingly widespread autonomous systems can fall into enemy hands when missions go wrong.

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