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The MQ-4C drone was reportedly missing after sending out an emergency signal "code 7700 alert" during an operation near the Strait of Hormuz on April 9. The United States Naval Command confirmed the loss of one MQ-4C in its mishap summary released on Tuesday.

Under the classification system used by the United States Department of War, any incident involving damage exceeding $2.5 million is termed a Class A mishap. The reconnaissance aircraft involved in the latest incident to be worth around $240’250 million, according to US-based CBS News.

On April 9, news reports had suggested that the MQ-4C drone was shot down by the Iranian air defences, but now, on Tuesday, the US Navy Command has said that the drone crashed. The mishap summary of the US Navy has not published clear details of the incident and only said that the drone had "crashed" and "no personnel were injured".

The MQ-4C Triton is among the US Navy's most sophisticated unmanned surveillance platforms, capable of long-endurance missions and wide-area maritime reconnaissance. It plays a critical role in monitoring shipping lanes, tracking military activity, and maintaining situational awareness across vast ocean regions.

This is not the first time a US surveillance drone has been lost in the region. A similar incident occurred in 2019, when Iran shot down a RQ-4A Global Hawk drone, which had sharply escalated tensions between the two countries.US LOST $720 MILLION WORTH OF DRONES IN THE IRAN WAR