The US struck an Iranian drone carrier, and the vessel is currently on fire, the top American admiral in the Middle East said.
Iran’s drone carriers are specialized crewed combat vessels capable of launching a mix of one-way attack drones and uncrewed reconnaissance and strike platforms. Destroying Iran’s naval forces, including warships, has been named a priority by US President Donald Trump and other officials in Operation Epic Fury.
On Thursday afternoon, Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of US Central Command overseeing the Middle East, said, “In just the last few hours, we hit an Iranian drone carrier ship, roughly the size of a World War II aircraft carrier, and as we speak, it’s on fire.”
Cooper didn’t elaborate on where the carrier was located or what it kind of munition hit it. He said that US forces have sunk over 30 Iranian vessels since the start of Operation Epic Fury last weekend.
Tehran has multiple vessels capable of serving as launch platforms for drones, including a former tanker converted into a forward base ship that was seen smoking at its home port in recent satellite images, but Iran’s dedicated, purpose-built drone carrier is the IRIS Shahid Bagheri.
Cooper didn’t identify the targeted Iranian vessel.
The Shahid Bagheri, formerly a container ship before it was reworked and commissioned into the navy last year.
The Iranian vessel features a ski jump-style ramp, one similar in some respects to those on Soviet-built carriers like the Russian Admiral Kuznetsov or Chinese derivatives, that are used to launch aircraft. The vessel can launch a mix of different drones.
During Thursday’s briefing, Cooper also offered several other updates on the US war in Iran. He said that within the last 72 hours, US bombers had struck nearly 200 targets “deep inside of Iran, including around Tehran.” In the last hour, he said at the 5 pm EST event, US Air Force B-2 Spirit bombers dropped “dozens” of 2,000-pound penetrative bombs on buried ballistic missile launchers.
The last day of operations, compared to the start of the conflict, has seen dramatic decreases in Iranian attacks beyond its borders, Cooper said. Ballistic missile attacks are down by 90% and the drone attacks are down by 83%. Reductions in these attacks reduces the strain on air defenders and interceptor stockpiles.
US forces have also targeted Iran’s equivalent of US Space Command, Cooper said, “which degrades their ability to threaten Americans.”
