U.S. Army crew rescued by sea drone after Apache crash near Strait of Hormuz
Two Army soldiers were retrieved from the water by an unmanned surface drone following an Apache helicopter crash near the Strait of Hormuz, with the incident now under investigation.
U.S. Central Command said the Apache helicopter went down in the waters off Oman near the Strait of Hormuz on Monday evening, prompting a rescue operation that employed an unmanned surface drone for the first time in a U.S. military water rescue. The two Army crew members were recovered about two hours after the crash, around 7:30 p.m. Eastern, and were reported to be in stable condition.
The drone was operated by Task Force 59, a unit attached to the U.S. Fifth Fleet based in Bahrain, according to military officials. While the specific drone system used has not been confirmed, a 2023 Task Force 59 document lists several naval drone platforms that could have been employed.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation, and details of the rescue operation have not been fully disclosed.
"The pilots are fine," former President Donald Trump said on Monday night after attending a basketball game, adding that no one was injured.
Iranian state media echoed foreign reports of the incident without providing additional information. The crash occurred amid heightened regional tensions, including recent exchanges of strikes between Israel and Iran and ongoing Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon.