An underwater drone that Northrop Grumman was using to conduct sonar research in the Chesapeake Bay was caught this month by a local waterman, the defense contractor said Thursday.

Northrop spokesman Andrew Haltzel said the autonomous undersea vehicle had completed its mission and surfaced in the water north of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge on Nov. 5.

A team from the company was on its way to pick it up when a fisherman hauled it out of the water, he said.

The waterman, identified by the Kent County News as David Haas, could not be reached for comment. He told the News that his crew was crabbing near the bay bridge when they lifted the drone from the water.