Photo courtesy of Anadolu.
The United States Navy confirmed the loss of an MQ-4C Triton surveillance drone on April 9 and classified the incident as a Class A mishap, indicating damages exceeding $2 million and no injuries reported.
The US Naval Safety Command did not disclose the exact location of the incident, citing operational security concerns.
Officials said the aircraft was last tracked flying in international airspace toward the direction of Iran before it disappeared from monitoring systems.
There was no indication that the drone entered Iranian territory, according to available US assessments.
The unmanned aircraft had been conducting a maritime surveillance mission over the Persian Gulf near the Strait of Hormuz before it was lost, based on reports cited by defense media outlets.
The MQ-4C Triton, built by Northrop Grumman and valued at about $238 million, is designed for long-endurance, high-altitude intelligence and reconnaissance operations.
It is capable of flying for more than a day at altitudes reaching around 50,000 feet and is typically deployed from bases such as Naval Air Station Sigonella in Italy.
The Navy has not released details on the cause of the loss, which occurred amid heightened US-Israeli military activity in the region since late February.