This is not the first time that a soldier has been recovered by the United States army, after his aircraft was shot down by Iranian forces. On April 5, two aviators were exfiltrated from the battlefield after their F-15E fighter bomber was hit. But this is the first time that it has done so by sea.
The rescue vehicle used to recover the two soldiers from the Apache helicopter struck by Iran is a Saronic Corsair, an autonomous surface vessel just over 7 meters long. These unmanned systems are grouped within Task Force 59 (created in 2021), based in Bahrain.
According to Saronic, its Corsair is capable of operating at ranges of more than 1,000 nautical miles and can support payloads of 1,000 pounds (just under 500 kg). The two soldiers, whose aircraft was hit near the Strait of Hormuz, were transported to a secure location by the drone, before being airlifted, specifies the Naval news site.
Sea drones, whether underwater or are generally used for surveillance, mine detection and tracking enemy activity, Reuters points out. The conflict between Ukraine and Russia has widespread the use of drones, particularly marine drones. Several of them were notably used in the Black Sea against Russian ships.
