Near the Strait of Hormuz — one of the world's most consequential waterways — Iran's Revolutionary Guards announced the recovery of an American autonomous underwater drone, a moment that crystallizes the quiet, expanding contest being waged beneath the surface of contested seas. The device, an Anduril Dive-LD capable of intelligence gathering and seabed mapping, represents the Pentagon's broader wager that machines can project power where sending people would be too costly or too provocative. The U.S. military acknowledged the loss while minimizing its significance, calling it a malfunction ra