Kingfish
US Navy mine-hunting underwater vehicle, a REMUS 600 derivative built by Hydroid.
Iran said on 27 September 2026 that its Revolutionary Guard navy had seized a US Navy Kingfish mine-hunting underwater vehicle in the strait of Hormuz; US Central Command denies losing control of any drone.
Last refreshed: 7 October 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Did Iran seize a Kingfish, or only claim it?
Timeline for Kingfish
Iran claims to hold a US Kingfish robot
Autonomous Systems: Land & SeaBackground
The Kingfish is the US Navy's MK 18 Mod 2 mine-hunting underwater vehicle. In September 2026 it was working in the strait of Hormuz, where Iran claimed on 27 September to have seized one.
The vehicle is based on the REMUS 600 and built by Hydroid, which Huntington Ingalls Industries bought in 2020 for $350m. It detects, locates and maps floating, moored and buried mines in shallow water. It can launch from a vessel as small as an 11m rigid-hull inflatable and run missions of up to 24 hours. The Navy has taken more than 90 production units.
Kingfish lets the Navy search for mines without putting divers or a crewed minehunter into the minefield. That makes it central to any effort to keep shipping lanes open in confined waters such as Hormuz, and makes each vehicle a target for capture claims.
Iran claims a captured Kingfish
On 27 September 2026 Iran said its Revolutionary Guard navy had seized a Kingfish in the strait of Hormuz. Hossein Mohebbi, the IRGC Navy's spokesman, valued it at several million dollars. Iran has published no verified imagery. Captain Tim Hawkins of US Central Command said the US kept "positive control of all of our operational drone assets" and called the claim "clearly desperate".
It was Iran's second such claim in a month. In early September it said it held a US underwater vehicle, which Central Command identified as an older drone that had malfunctioned. For the Kingfish, the dispute is over whether the Navy's main shallow-water mine hunter can work in the strait without one falling into Iranian hands. Neither side has shown evidence that settles it.
