Rescue of US Army Helicopter Pilots Was First of Its Kind

Two downed US Army helicopter pilots near the Strait of Hormuz reportedly got a lift from a boat with no one on board. US Central Command says the AH-64 Apache pilots were "rescued by American forces" around 7:30pm EST Monday, "within approximately two hours" of their helicopter going down off the coast of Oman, where it had been "patrolling regional waters." Military sources tell CBS News that the rescue vessel was an unmanned drone boat operated by Task Force 59, the Navy's first dedicated drone task force.

A US official tells ABC News that the unmanned drone had a speed boat-style design and carried the two soldiers to shore as part of an operation led by CENTCOM's naval branch and the 82nd Airborne Division, with support from Task Force 59, which is part of the US 5th Fleet based in Bahrain. It was the first such operation ever carried out by the US military, officials tell CBS. CENTCOM describes the soldiers as "in stable condition," per the BBC. The cause of the incident is under investigation.