Splash One MiG

Well, not really. Jet engine (check), Mideast nation (check), menacing our carrier (check), Navy pilot shooting it down (check) MiG (oops) – came so close to being Ed’s favorite movie in real life. Missed it by that much…

About 500 miles out of Iran, in seas that no one would call anything but international waters, the Iranians got a little froggy with one of their Shahed drones. Briefly.

“USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) was transiting the Arabian Sea approximately 500 miles from Iran’s southern coast when an Iranian Shahed-139 drone unnecessarily maneuvered toward the ship,” Hawkins added. “The Iranian drone continued to fly toward the ship despite de-escalatory measures taken by U.S. forces operating in international waters.”

The specific weapon used to down the drone was not specified. Since the Navy does say it was an F-35C which done the dirty deed,  we can probably presume the kill shot came from an AIM-9X Sidewinder, an AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM), or a 25mm gun pod (if it was done dirt cheap).

Not the first drone we’ve taken out by a long shot. And drones are relatively non-escalatory (is there such a word?) as they are unmanned, so enemy casualties are not involved. Shaheds are roughly equivalent in size and capacity to one of our Predator drones.

The Houthis in Yemen have actively targeted American naval vessels with kamikaze drones, as well as anti-ship ballistic and cruise missiles, in the past.

Sounds like the Navy lads are right on top of  it. Bravo Zulu, guys. Think that is the correct phrase?

And the Iranians haven’t just been obnoxious to our carrier group.

During a separate incident hours later in the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) forces harassed a U.S.-flagged, U.S.-crewed merchant vessel lawfully transiting the international sea passage. Two IRGC boats and an Iranian Mohajer drone approached M/V Stena Imperative at high speeds and threatened to board and seize the tanker,” Capt. Tim Hawkins, the CENTCOM spokesperson, also said in his statement to TWZ. “Guided-missile destroyer USS McFaul (DDG 74) was operating in the area and immediately responded to the scene to escort M/V Stena Imperative with defensive air support from the U.S. Air Force.”

Don’t know about you, but I would suspect a destroyer and a couple of armed US aircraft would cause anyone to recalibrate their thinking a little. It would definitely be time to un-ass the AO – heck, we’re smoking suspected drug smugglers. Actual attempted hijackers? Yeah, time to turn that Islamic glorified Zodiac for shore.

Trump “remains committed to always pursuing diplomacy first,” White House press secretary Karonline Leavitt told Fox News. “But in order for diplomacy to work, of course, it takes two to tango. You need a willing partner to engage. And so that’s something the president and Special Envoy Witkoff are exploring and discussing right now.”TWZ

Seems to me I remember an earlier version of this. Something about a big stick? Or maybe the old saw about needing to hit the mule with a 2×4 first to get its attention?  Iran would be wise to remember who has the biggest cudgel.

Category: "Teh Stoopid", Iran, Navy