The U.S. military deployed unmanned suicide boats in combat for the first time on July 13, striking a submarine and ship maintenance facility at the Bandar Abbas Naval Base on Iran's Strait of Hormuz coast. U.S. Central Command said the operation degraded Iran's ability to continue attacking commercial shipping.
Three Corsair autonomous surface vessels built by Texas-based Saronic carried out the attack. The 24-foot drone boats, which Saronic unveiled publicly in October 2024 after securing a $392 million Navy production contract in December 2025, can carry payloads exceeding 450 kilograms across ranges of nearly 2,000 kilometres at speeds up to 35 knots.
Tensions have escalated sharply since the strike. President Donald Trump said the U.S. would probably take over the Strait of Hormuz, while Iran's IRGC retaliated by targeting American military facilities in Bahrain and Kuwait. U.S. Centcom said on July 15 that more than 50,000 service members are now deployed across the Middle East, and the command released footage of the drone strike on X.