Guys Who Fished Military Drone Out Of The Ocean Can't Wait To Update Their Tinder Profile Pictures

For the U.S. Air Force, this was the one that got away. At least, it would have been if not for a fishing boat charter that retrieved it. CNN reports that the fishing expedition by Hot Spots Charters out of Pensacola, Florida, caught their usual assortment of fish that you'd expect to find in the Gulf of Mexico, plus an unusual addition: a large military drone they found floating at sea. 

They pulled it on board, where it filled the entire bow of the fishing boat, and returned it to shore. There, they included it in an otherwise normal photo of what they caught that day, except a large delta-winged drone is not exactly the sort of catch these expeditions usually bring back. But it'll look great in their Tinder profile pictures, right? It would certainly make them stand out, though perhaps not in the way they intend.

The drone's design closely resembles that of the Iranian Shahed-136 drones that are wreaking havoc as part of the war in Iran and sending oil prices into the stratosphere. Charlie Green, who goes by Aquatic Charlie on Facebook, identified it as an MQM-172 drone. Considering Pensacola's proximity to Eglin Air Force Base, it makes sense that the military would fly a drone like this over open water, then use it for target practice. While the drone showed some signs of damage, such as a missing nosecone, engine, and propeller, it otherwise appeared mostly intact.

While Hot Spots Charters certainly had fun with this find in photos and on social media, they also did the right thing and reported their find to authorities. From WEAR News:

"The US Navy or US government contacted us to figure out where their drone was because they were very interested in having it back," Captain Daniel Arsenault said. "We let them know that the Sheriff's Department on Pensacola Beach substation had the drone. And they were very thankful that we picked it up and they went and got it, I believe."

Eglin Air Force Base also told WEAR News that "a LUCAS UAS impacted the water during routine scheduled testing on the Eglin AFB Range." That confirms that this is the low-cost drone we designed and built by basically copying Iran's homework. While originally built as the FLM-136, a Shahed-136 replica for target practice, it has since been armed and deployed to the Middle East to strike back at Iran – until it wasn't. Not this drone, obviously — it crashed. 

I questioned the wisdom of hauling a military drone onto your boat, not knowing whether it might blow up or not. But according to the captain, he had the right crew for the job. Also from WEAR News:

"We had some people on the boat who had some military experience," said Captain Daniel Arsenault with Hot Spot Charters. "Probably would not advise to pick up something that you're not sure what it is. Call the Coast Guard, let them know where it's at. But the guys on the boat were pretty knowledgeable of what we were messing with, that's why we picked it up."

Still, I'd recommend not messing with random military equipment you find floating in the sea. As the Hydraulic Press Channel says, "Don't try this at home. We are professionals because we get paid to do this."