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
The Iranian patrol boats look like Bayliner VR5 outboards with a fore mounted machine gun. Nice little pleasure craft and probably evenly matched to an LCS; but will have a bad day against an Arleigh Burke. I jest, the LCS is probably overmatched against a swarm of Bayliners.
Can I get one of those Bayliners with a minigun? Asking for a friend…
Correction,,, we will need 2 of them!!
😉. Thanks
Great!
Did you guys want that with or without the Gadsden Flag? Also the fly bridge mounted rocket launcher is a very popular option. Comes with mounted hard sights over the pod.
As you point out, they didn’t get the drone supporting the attempted IRGN boarding of a US flagged tanker a couple hours later. https://gcaptain.com/reports-iran-harasses-us-flagged-tanker-critical-to-u-s-military-fuel-supply-in-strait-of-hormuz/
Iran be butthurt.
Here’s somethin” fer ’em:
The US currently imports less than 10% of it’s oil from the Middle East. As a net exporter it is fair to say we could survive without any oil from the Middle East.
The F-35 pilot went straight into the danger zone and cooked the Iranian Goose. But… was he inverted?
KoB, we miss you.
He put the drone on Ice, Man.
RIP KOB.
Yeah, I thought of him when doing the first paragraph.
I thought once a hostile act was detected a “measured response” was usually taken at the base where they act came from. Something along the lines of we just sank half of your navy in 30 minutes.
Seems Trump has taken a somewhat softer approach, at least for now.
For now.
It’s only wednesday.
IMHO President Trump is bending over backwards to avoid escalation if possible, but ready to rumble if given no choice.
Iran and wisdom are strangers to each other.
IRAN
this
Not that I’d want that Shahed drone to come anywhere near the Abraham Lincoln, but if it did I can’t imagine it ever come close to sinking it, based on all the ordinance thrown at the USS America during it’s SINKEX.
In order to sink a Ford, I imagine they would have to go old school and try to hit the magazine from the air. Luke Sywalker would have to drop a missile down the bomb elevator.
A Shahed-136 has a payload capacity fully fueled of about 52 kg, or 90kg. 200 pounds of explosives would cause problems, but without taking out a magazine probably would make a helluva mess. Given that its max speed is about 115 mph, it’s highly unlikely one could ever really get near to the carrier’s escort group undetected. One correction – further reading says it is a pusher prop propulsion system, not a jet engine. The F-35, however, is still a jet.