What we know about US sea drone used in helicopter crew rescue mission

What we know about US sea drone used in helicopter crew rescue mission14 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleJake HortonBBC VerifySaronicA sea drone was used to save two crew members of a downed US army helicopter off the coast of Oman earlier this week, according to the US military - making it the first publicly known instance of an unmanned vessel being used to conduct a rescue mission.President Donald Trump said the apache helicopter was shot down by Iran near the Strait of Hormuz - the dangerous waterway which has been largely blocked off to shipping since the start of the Iran war.The two soldiers "were safely rescued within approximately two hours and are in stable condition", US Central Command (Centcom) said.BBC Verify has examined what we know about the drone boat and how the mission took place.What is the US sea drone?Centcom has confirmed a 'Corsair' sea drone was used in the rescue, which is made by a Texas-based maritime drone manufacturing company.It's 24 feet (7.4m) long, capable of carrying 1,000lbs (450kg), and can travel more than 35 knots per hour (40mph), according to the company's website.Promotional footage released by Saronic, the company behind the Corsair sea drone"The Corsair is about the size of a fishing boat with a flat deck, so it's designed to be loaded and it's probably able to hold three to four people," says Bryan Clark, a naval drone expert at the Hudson Institute policy think-tank.Clark adds it has a 360-degree camera, a radar system for long range navigation, and an electronic radio sensor to pick up communications for intelligence gathering."This Corsair vessel has been around for a few years now - the US Navy has about 50 of them," according to Dr Stacie Pettyjohn, a US military expert at the Center for a New American Security think-tank."They're typically used for detecting mines or surveillance, but the Navy is still experimenting with the fleet i...