The U.S. military utilized a naval sea drone to rescue two Army pilots after their helicopter went down near the Strait of Hormuz on Monday night. It’s the first operation of its kind for the U.S. military.It’s unclear what caused the Army’s AH-64 Apache helicopter to go down, whether they were shot down, presumably by Iran, or whether there was a mechanical failure or other sort of issue. The two pilots were rescued within roughly two hours and are in stable condition. The incident is currently under investigation.
“The surface drone that assisted in last night’s rescue off the coast of Oman was a U.S. Navy Corsair unmanned surface vessel operated by U.S. 5th Fleet’s Task Force 59,” CENTCOM spokesman CAPT. Tim Hawkins told the Washington Examiner. “The task force began fielding these drones in theater in late March.”
The Corsair unmanned surface vessel, which is made by Saronic, is a 24-foot vessel capable of carrying up to 1,000 pounds over 1,000 nautical miles and it can go more than 35 knots per hour.
The rescue efforts were led by U.S. Naval Forces Central Command and the 82nd Airborne Division, and they were supported by Air Force and Navy units, including the 5th Fleet’s Task Force 59, which was the Navy’s first unmanned and artificial intelligence task force when it was established in 2021.
