Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), said on Wednesday that U.S. forces struck almost 2,000 Iranian targets within the first hundred hours of Operation Epic Fury.
“Our military in the Middle East is undertaking an unprecedented operation to eliminate Iran’s ability to threaten Americans, as they’ve been doing for nearly half a century,” Cooper said in a video update posted to social media platform X.
Cooper said the operation involved more than “50,000 troops, 200 fighters, two aircraft carriers, and bombers,” representing “the largest buildup by the U.S. in the Middle East in a generation.”
“Many of you may remember the shock and awe of the strikes of 2003. The first 24 hours of this operation were literally double the scale, and we continue with 24/7 strikes into Iran from seabed to space and cyberspace,” he said.
The CENTCOM commander explained that the first phase of Operation Epic Fury was focused on “severely diminishing” Iran’s air defenses and ballistic missile launchers. He also noted that Iran’s “entire navy” has been eliminated.
“We have severely degraded Iran’s air defenses and destroyed hundreds of Iran’s ballistic missiles, launchers and drones. In simple terms, we’re focused on shooting all the things that can shoot at us,” he said.
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Cooper mentioned the deployment of B-52 bombers to attack Iran’s ballistic missile and command infrastructure– a remarkable demonstration of the success of the operation to strip away Iran’s air defenses, since the massive and aging B-52s would have difficulty operating against modern anti-aircraft defenses. The first version of the B-52 entered service in 1952.
“U.S. air forces are doing what they do best, executing a high volume of air strikes right into Iran. Operationally, the two most powerful air forces in the world, the U.S. and Israel, are dominating the skies of the world’s largest state sponsor of terror,” he said.
Cooper said U.S. forces would “continue to conduct dynamic targeting operations or hunting Iran’s last remaining mobile ballistic missile launchers,” in order to eliminate what he described as Iran’s “lingering launch capability.” He noted Iran is using that capability to deliberately attack civilian targets across the Middle East.
“To be clear, Iran is indiscriminately targeting civilians, as they launch these missiles and drones. You’ve seen it on TV, the evidence is crystal clear and overwhelming,” he said.
“My overall operational assessment is that we are ahead of our gameplan,” he concluded.
Although there has been considerable media anxiety about Iran’s missile inventory supposedly outlasting the ability of U.S. and allied forces to intercept terror launches against civilian targets, an unnamed Western official told the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on Wednesday that the volume of Iranian missile launches is steeply declining, and Iran may only have “several more days of firepower” remaining.
“The enemy can no longer shoot the volume of missiles they once did, not even close. Our air defenses and that of our allies have plenty of runway. We can sustain this fight easily for as long as we need to,” Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said on Wednesday.
“We are accelerating, not decelerating. Iran’s capabilities are evaporating by the hour while US strength grows fiercer, smarter, and more dominant. America is winning, decisively, and without mercy,” he said.
“Iran’s theater ballistic missile shots fired down 86% from the first day of fighting, with a 23% decrease just in the last 24 hours, and their one way attack drone shots are down 73% from the opening days,” said Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, appearing at the press conference with Hegseth.
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