The US military said it had deployed suicide surface-based UAVs for the first time in a campaign to attack Iran, marking a new step in the development of the use of unmanned vehicles on the battlefield.
The information was announced by the US Central Command (CENTCOM) on July 13 on the X social network platform.
According to CENTCOM, US forces used both aerial and surface suicide UAVs in a new attack on Iran.
This is the first time the US military has confirmed the deployment of surface UAVs in a military operation targeting Iran.
However, CENTCOM has not announced the scale of use of this type of vehicle nor provided information about the effectiveness or extent of damage after attacks.
In the statement, the US Central Command also continued to affirm that Iran "does not control the Strait of Hormuz" - a strategic maritime route connecting the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman, which transits about 1/3 of the world's oil transported by sea.
For many years, the Strait of Hormuz has always been a hotspot of tension between the US and Iran. The US has repeatedly declared that it will guarantee freedom of navigation in this area, while Iran affirms that it has the right to protect national interests and security in the adjacent waters.
CENTCOM's first confirmation of the use of surface UAVs shows the trend of expanding the role of unmanned vehicles in modern military operations.
Suicide surface UAVs are capable of approaching targets at long distances, carrying explosives and rushing directly at targets after being controlled or pre-programmed, similar to the operating methods of many types of Suicide UAVs in the air.
Currently, the Iranian side has not commented on the information released by CENTCOM.
