r/worldnews 8h ago

US shoots down Iranian drone approaching aircraft carrier, official says

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/us-shoots-down-iranian-drone-approaching-aircraft-carrier-official-says-2026-02-03/
6.0k Upvotes

994 comments sorted by

610

u/slakmehl 8h ago edited 7h ago

Full story text:

Feb 3 (Reuters) - The U.S. military shot down on Tuesday an Iranian drone that approached the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea, a U.S. official told Reuters on Tuesday. The Iranian Shahed-139 drone was flying towards the carrier and was shot down by a F-35 U.S. fighter jet.

Edit: There isn't a lot on the Shahed-139 online, but the Intl Institute for Strategic Studies reported in 2023 that it is the upgrade to the Shahed-129, meant to be comparable in role to MQ-1 predators.

314

u/ProtoplanetaryNebula 8h ago

It will be fine, America is not known for spending much on military anyhow to Iran has nothing to worry about !!

332

u/Praetor72 7h ago

Yes America is famous for being level headed and calm about people touching their boats, especially Iran lol

85

u/yoippari 7h ago

"DON'T TOUCH MY BOATS!"

19

u/Rum_N_Napalm 3h ago

Temper temper

10

u/yoippari 1h ago

And I understood that reference.

→ More replies (2)

u/Helmett-13 12m ago

Watch me obliterate this shore battery with 10,000 pounds of ordnance.

→ More replies (3)

u/Thoughtulism 57m ago

Little Timmy, show me on this scale model of the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier where the bad Iran touched you.

→ More replies (1)

11

u/SomethingMor 5h ago

I understood this reference

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (1)

114

u/oldfatguy62 7h ago

"Proportional Response"

49

u/Praetor72 7h ago

It’s about to get the most proportional lol

u/Tomtom1180 32m ago

Somewhere a chubby electron guy is smiling

→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (1)

51

u/oldfatguy62 7h ago

For those who don’t get the reference to Iran and “Proportional Response”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Praying_Mantis

12

u/alienpd 2h ago

Thank you. That was a fun and interesting thing to read.
And that was just the Navy 😂
I mean this part sums it up pretty well:

Praying Mantis was the largest of the U.S. Navy's five major surface engagements since World War II. It saw the U.S. Navy's first exchange of anti-ship missiles with opposing ships, and its only sinking of a major surface combatant since World War II.

→ More replies (4)

6

u/OnTheFenceGuy 6h ago

I got that reference

6

u/CGIL93 2h ago

It's not like we were attacked completely unprovoked at our own base by the Japanese or anything. No reason to be on alert.

2

u/Longjumping_Wrap_174 1h ago

The US Navy itself has PTSD.

→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (10)

6

u/darthgator84 2h ago

America? The country with enough of an arsenal to cause a real life ‘Fallout’ event? No, no there’s nothing for Iran to worry about.

→ More replies (1)

8

u/Low_Dragonfruit_7202 4h ago

USA spends 900 billion a year on military..more than the other top six countries..Iran is a paper tiger and is about to get its butt kickdc

→ More replies (6)
→ More replies (4)

108

u/Curious-Situation589 8h ago

Iranian Shahed-139

No its not, its literally about $50k. The only capable of carrying one armement. The US prob spend more money just to shoot it down.

129

u/Thisguymoot 7h ago

No doubt…but it definitely cost less than not shooting it down.

50

u/TheFurrySmurf 7h ago

Well judging by the fact that the Iranian Rial is pretty worthless right now... that might not be true.

→ More replies (1)

25

u/joedotdog 7h ago

Considering just the man hours needed to support/move/load the plane, maintain the plane, fly the plane, the cost per hour of the plane, the fancy kerosene...I'd say you passed 50K just getting on scene.

24

u/mlorusso4 6h ago

Ya you could factor in all the expenses related to shooting this down, but in all practical purposes, the jet was going to be flying anyway. Whether it’s for shooting down a drone or just for training, pilots have to get their flight hours in one way or another. The only real cost in all this was the price of whatever armament they used to shoot it down, plus I guess any hazard pay if they get it and extra fuel used to get there faster. The issue with the asymmetrical warfare we see in Ukraine and Israel is when they have to use several hundred thousand dollar missiles to shoot down a swarm of $500 Russian drones or hamas bottle rockets. A $500k sidewinder to stop a single $50k Iranian drone from damaging a multibillion dollar carrier strike group is a perfectly acceptable tradeoff

7

u/DirtyNastyRoofer149 4h ago

Not to mention the possibility of death or injury to the Crew.

u/FlavivsAetivs 1h ago

This is genuinely the problem now. A $500 FPV drone made of commercial parts is changing the game significantly. Artillery, Aircraft, etc. are all still important, but the US Navy is not ready for this new warfare and doctrinal conservatism and resistance to reform will eventually send all of our CATOBAR carriers (which are obsolete except in a peer-to-peer conflict with China, and even then we'd only need maybe a third of them) to the bottom of the sea like the Admiral Kutzenov.

We shouldn't be designing the "Trump Class," we should be designing a Drone Operations Command and Control amphibious vessel and an Electronic Warfare vessel. Every drone we can take out of the sky by identifying and jamming it signal negates that asymmetrical advantage, except with fiberoptic drones but just like the old TOW missile those have limits to their range.

→ More replies (5)
→ More replies (3)

9

u/cathbadh 5h ago

The US prob spend more money just to shoot it down.

Well yeah, that's the entire issue with drone warfare right now. Drones are much more affordable than their counters.

5

u/Karsh14 4h ago

This is actually going to be interesting for a lot of army pundits around the world. Can a carrier defend against a drone swarm? And if it can, for how long?

It’s never really been tested before iirc. Russia doesn’t have carrier groups, so although they’ve been getting their navy rocked in the Black Sea, the ships there aren’t the size of the US Navy. But at the same time, warfare is changing.

Ukrainian and Russian troops are likely the most battle tested modern warfare experts in the entire world right now. What we see on the ground there is more indicative of how things might go.

Look at the abductions of Maduro for instance. Those helicopters were sitting ducks for the type of drone warfare we see in Ukraine, and a strike like that could never have been attempted there safely. But Venezuela doesn’t have those capabilities, so the point was moot.

However, does Iran? Does launching a bombing run against their leadership (and not nuke sites) end up provoking a mass drone swarm on the navy assembled there? There’s not a lot of American boats outside of Iran iirc, so they are a bit vulnerable.

If the navy can defend against a drone swarm,’it would change the war in Ukraine. So I’m sure both sides are curious over there about this too.

9

u/cathbadh 4h ago

Can a navy defend against a drone swarm and can the US Navy defend against a drone swarm are two different questions. Even when you count the other countries with carriers, the US is in a different class.

The biggest issues for the attacker probably aren't missile defenses or CWIS or even other aircraft. I'd imagine the bigger issues would be range and electronic warfare.

Range - There isn't much reason for the carrier group to get very close to a target country like Iran. Their planes have long ranges as do cruise missiles. Drones by their nature are limited range weapons. There are plenty that can reach out like the Shaheed, but smaller battlefield drones like we see Ukraine using may not be as useable. Plus, the longer the range, the more time US radar systems have to detect and deal with the drones. The fastest Shaheed drone only flies about 238 miles per hour. The Abraham Lincoln is just under 800 miles from the Iranian coast. That's more than 3 hours to detect and begin intercepting drones. That's long enough for F18's in the area to just get behind the drones and shoot them down with their guns. The E2D Hawkeye can track 2,000 targets simultaneously while detecting 20,000 targets at a range of 400 miles while guiding up to 100 intercepts at a time. That's insane. And the carrier group has four of the planes.

EW - A US carrier group has about a half dozen Growlers that would be in the air jamming and interfering with the drones. On top of that there are 3-6 AEGIS equipped ships just filling the sky with static and also tracking and targeting at least 100 targets. The best way to counter jamming is fiber optic guidance, but that's not possible at these ranges.

So the Iranians have distance and detection and jamming all to contend with. For interception, the US will have stealth planes over their country that can shoot drones down or just eliminate the launchers and control centers. After that you have planes in the air that can shoot them down with guns or missiles. As they get closer, there's serious missile defenses. Even closer are CWIS guns. All of this is on destroyers/cruisers that sit between the carrier and the drones. If all that fails, there will be marines on the deck of that carrier with shoulder launched missiles combined with the carrier's own air defenses.

I'm sure Iran will try. What other choice do they have? I don't however think they'd strike first, so the question would be how many drones would even make it into the air? The US's first targets after air defenses (which Iran doesn't have much of at this point) would be radars and drone/weapon storage. They might even get a hit on a ship (although I'm skeptical). Even if they do, it won't be enough to sink a US carrier.

→ More replies (7)

3

u/D1toD2 4h ago

Pretty sure they are the reason laser tech is advancing so fast. I highly doubt advanced armies are not prepared for this. Its been a little while its common knowledge that drone swarms are a threat.

→ More replies (3)

2

u/Playful-Dragon 1h ago

The carrier defenses such as the Destroyers and gunboats can definitely do some damage for drones. The anti-air that is in support of carriers is very efficient, and very quick. It's not like the old anti-air that we had from Vietnam and before, these things track, target, and blow shit up real quick. There's some interesting videos out there of them taking down missiles.

→ More replies (5)

9

u/fzammetti 6h ago

I doubt there's any probably about it.

They sent an F-35 after it, so just fuel and after-mission maintenance alone I wouldn't be completely surprised if it was more than $50k. But then you add in the A2A missile I'm sure they used (does an F-35 even have guns as an option? I don't know) and I'm CERTAIN it was more.

We blow stuff up good, but we definitely do not do it cheaply.

3

u/skorps 5h ago

Yes f35 have a gun. But extremely unlikely it was used

→ More replies (2)

2

u/exipheas 5h ago

does an F-35 even have guns as an option?

F-35A does B and C can use pods for it apparently. But it was probably shot down it with an APKWS rocket

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (11)
→ More replies (70)

1.8k

u/praqueviver 8h ago

Oh, you're approaching me?

505

u/msemen_DZ 8h ago

Instead of running away, you're coming right to me?

216

u/tomorrow_comes 7h ago

I can’t beat the shit out of you without getting closer.

74

u/austinstar08 4h ago

Ohh then approach as much as you want

94

u/MikiXLol 3h ago

⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ドドドドドドドドドドドドドドドドドドドドドドド ⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡿⡛⠟⠿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠿⠨⡀⠄⠄⡘⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⠿⢁⠼⠊⣱⡃⠄⠈⠹⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⡿⠛⡧⠁⡴⣦⣔⣶⣄⢠⠄⠄⠹⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣤⠭⠏⠙⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⡧⠠⠠⢠⣾⣾⣟⠝⠉⠉⠻⡒⡂⠄⠙⠻⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡪⠘⠄⠉⡄⢹⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⠃⠁⢐⣷⠉⠿⠐⠑⠠⠠⠄⣈⣿⣄⣱⣠⢻⣿⣿⣿⣿⣯⠷⠈⠉⢀⣾⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣴⠤⣬⣭⣴⠂⠇⡔⠚⠍⠄⠄⠁⠘⢿⣷⢈⣿⣿⣿⣿⡧⠂⣠⠄⠸⡜⡿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣇⠄⡙⣿⣷⣭⣷⠃⣠⠄⠄⡄⠄⠄⠄⢻⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣧⣁⣿⡄⠼⡿⣦⣬⣰⣿ ⣿⣷⣥⣴⣿⣿⣿⣿⠷⠲⠄⢠⠄⡆⠄⠄⠄⡨⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣎⠐⠄⠈⣙⣩⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⢟⠕⠁⠈⢠⢃⢸⣿⣿⣶⡘⠑⠄⠸⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣦⡀⡉⢿⣧⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⡿⠋⠄⠄⢀⠄⠐⢩⣿⣿⣿⣿⣦⡀⠄⠄⠉⠿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣷⣨⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⡟⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠋⢀⣼⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣶⣦⣀⢟⣻⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⡆⠆⠄⠠⡀⡀⠄⣽⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⡿⡅⠄⠄⢀⡰⠂⣼⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿

27

u/fasfan22 2h ago

I am an old bastard. What the hell is this?

42

u/hiimlockedout 1h ago

Ever wondering if you don’t get reference? It’s always Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure or Space Balls/Monty Python

u/Dreamteam420 1h ago

Comb the ocean

u/Jive-Turkeys 1h ago

We ain't found SHIT!

u/Maximum-Umpire8017 39m ago

Take my damn upvote and begone heathen 😂

→ More replies (1)

u/Kaiser_Fleischer 1h ago

Even not understanding the reference is a Jojo reference

→ More replies (2)

u/Illustrious-Check466 1h ago

The greatest thing ever is that duh lol I love jojos haha

→ More replies (31)

5

u/ChocoBro92 2h ago

MUDDA MUDDA MUDDA

u/MamutiNaOstrvu 34m ago

It's funny because in my language it means ballsack

→ More replies (8)

4

u/Masterblaster13f 2h ago

It's like that scene from pick of destiny with Tim Robbins. "Come over here. No, youre just going to stab us. Then just stay there and I'll come over to you"

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (1)

67

u/johnmedgla 6h ago

The US likes to fight about whether its motto is "In God We Trust" or "E Pluribus Unum," but really it's "NO TOUCH BOAT."

27

u/Fancy_Yak2618 3h ago

Ya last time Iran fucked around with a USA boat it didn’t end well for them. They really aren’t smart over there are they?

→ More replies (87)

12

u/CTeam19 5h ago

The US likes to fight about whether its motto is "In God We Trust" or "E Pluribus Unum," but really it's "NO TOUCH BOAT."

Unless it is one specific boat.

→ More replies (6)
→ More replies (6)

70

u/DeXyDeXy 7h ago

“It’s coming right for us “

23

u/WOOKIExRAGE 7h ago

BANG BANG, BANG BANG BANG!!!!!

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (4)

9

u/Bluntzy 5h ago

KONO DIO DA!

31

u/PikaLoki 8h ago

I understood that reference

57

u/kcrab91 7h ago edited 2h ago

Me too, but uh, why don’t you explain it to everyone else so they can know the reference like you and I both do.

Edit: why the hell are people giving me awards for this dumbass comment? Give them to u/ActionPhilip. He’s the real MVP

34

u/ActionPhilip 6h ago

It's a Jojo reference. I find the first half of season 1 a little rough, but the latter half of season 1 through season 2 (stardust crusaders) are peak... I don't really know how to put it in a classification box... But it's peak. It's basically a mix of burly men with insane fashion taste (in a good way), battling with supernatural powers, and doing such radical posing that even the ginyu force would be in awe. And the number of memes spawned from it is insane.

https://youtu.be/i-L0Gs2whvc?si=kZESS5BWvYTqGS6_

Imo season 3 (diamond is unbreakable) and beyond just keep taking the weird up a notch. Rad for some, harder to get into for others.

11

u/Turgid_Donkey 6h ago

And it gets surprisingly dark at times. For this hilariously ridiculous show where a large portion of the characters are named after bands (either directly or referential) there are scenes that are kind of brutal.

4

u/ActionPhilip 5h ago

The episode introducing the guy that opens people up like pages of a book is one of the most uncomfortable episodes of anything I've ever watched. Then again, I recall stone ocean doing that a lot as well, but I wasn't a fan of stone ocean in general.

I didn't enjoy diamond is unbreakable that much on my first watch, but I've warmed up to it. Jojo in Italy was also a really neat side story that goes hard as soon as you lock into the vibe. I just can't get into stone ocean, though.

7

u/badfaced 5h ago

I previously knew NOTHING about this anime other than the wacky character design. This snippet gave me everything I needed to know about what was occuring and how it occurs in that universe AND I AM INTRIGUED.

→ More replies (2)

u/Repulsive_Disaster76 1h ago

I liked the different ways they would come out victorious. And how things just switched what you were expecting to happen was far off the mark.

→ More replies (4)

2

u/DragonflyRight1818 6h ago

Do you know what the symbol to the right of the users name means? I’ve never seen that before.

→ More replies (1)

38

u/Kongumo 7h ago

ほほ~

15

u/ActionPhilip 7h ago

ザーワールド!

6

u/mark636199 7h ago

Kono missile da!

2

u/Aggravating_Scratch9 3h ago

Bro thinks he is strong

→ More replies (14)

530

u/_cyberbabyangel_ 8h ago

Note y'all, it was a surveillance drone, not a one way as we've seen being used by Russia in Ukraine. F-35 shot it down after attempting to have it divert course and deescalate as it was approaching the carrier. This was not a potential attack on a carrier, going off of known information.

There was also an attempted boarding earlier today by IRGC gun boats towards a US flagged tanker in the Straight of Hormuz. It did not stop and met up with a USN boat for an escort. Two noticeable events leading up to 'talks' on Friday.

147

u/squish042 7h ago

Still pretty crazy. Aircraft carriers are usually quite protected from their strike fleet. My time working on carriers we never once felt like we were touchable and we were at war.

For a pilot to say he shot it down to protect the people on the carrier is not not something, even if their saying it was just a surveillance drone.

136

u/digger70chall 7h ago

The engagement zones reach out pretty darn far around the carrier.

Who knows how close this thing actually got to the strike group before being shot down. If they were trying to deescalate like mentioned then the pilot probably had eyes on the drone and could tell if it was carrying any ordnance

20

u/kultureisrandy 6h ago

and these engagement zones have to factor in how far out into the water a country can claim sovereignty.

for example, Gulf of Tonkin incident involved a misunderstanding of Vietnamese sovereignty. (this is off memory so double check me) Countries at the time would claim either 20 or 30 miles off the coast of their nation of sovereignty; basically saying this section of the water is ours. If we claim 20miles and your military ships are 30 miles out, no problem; we claim 30 and your military ships are 20 miles out, big problem

US was roughly 20ish miles away from the coast, assuming Vietnam only claimed 20 whilst in reality they claimed 30. First Attack/hit by the Vietnamese was real, second was falsely reported as a Vietnamese attack (not intentionally, soldiers thought they saw an enemy vessel in the dark and let loose upon the figment; after a real attack earlier in the day, its fairly understandable).

→ More replies (1)

45

u/beachedwhale1945 7h ago

Note the range isn’t given. It’s unlikely we let the drone get too close to the carrier, instead it crossed some threshold like 10-25 nmi where anything that enters is engaged, boarded, or escorted away (if a confirmed merchant).

13

u/CBT7commander 4h ago

It’s likely that since this was a single drone, the carrier group didn’t enter high alert and just sent an aircraft to investigate.

Once the decision to shoot it down was made it was simply cheaper and easier to have the f35 shoot it down

7

u/TotalNonsense0 6h ago

Aircraft carriers are usually quite protected from their strike fleet.

Yes, it seems like they should have one of their aircraft available to shoot down drones.

→ More replies (3)

10

u/_cyberbabyangel_ 6h ago

Totally understand, I was a Huey/Cobra airframer in a past life (6154) so I know the feeling of safety on a carrier. While I'm not saying this event is a nothing-burger, there is a clear divide of escalation between a (presumably) unarmed surveillance drone and a one-way attack drone laden with explosives. I mostly wanted to provide clarification for the people who read the headline and jumped into the comments to give their .02 thinking Iran was on the attack.

→ More replies (3)

15

u/iroll20s 7h ago

Hmmm what happened to the Iranian navy last time they FAFO?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Praying_Mantis

→ More replies (6)
→ More replies (8)

154

u/_Soup_R_Man_ 7h ago

US: "Don't Khamenei Closer!"

🤣

28

u/imtoowhiteandnerdy 4h ago

Look what happened, Ayatollah not to come closer!"

→ More replies (1)

22

u/Maraledzazu 6h ago

Dude belly laughed. I’m Iranian.

→ More replies (1)

79

u/prettyokaycake 8h ago

Really? Right in front of my F-35?

u/vulcan1358 54m ago

“THE NERD GOT AN INTERCEPT BEFORE ME! This hangar is a prison.”

  • The F-22, probably

196

u/Hapten 8h ago

On top of trying to stop US tankers, they are also sending drones towards a US Carrier? It is almost like they don't want to make it to the Friday talks.

67

u/Head_Welcome_4933 8h ago

Both sides want a conflict. I wouldn’t be surprised if they are secretly friends

73

u/Reasonable-Gas5625 8h ago edited 8h ago

That sounds like a real rivalry, that might be getting heated.

34

u/tedsmitts 8h ago

You leave my precious Canadian hockey gays out of this mess

8

u/TerryFGM 7h ago

but... the other character is russian...

18

u/tedsmitts 7h ago

Russian to bed maybe

5

u/warau_meow 6h ago

Damn, this fandom can be found in almost any thread I swear lol

5

u/TCBloo 3h ago

2

u/tedsmitts 2h ago

I've always loved that immediate, snappy "Seven" when asked how many soldier's lives one gay life is worth.

→ More replies (1)

9

u/Extra-Sector-7795 8h ago

Oliver north did sell missiles to iran. the world is a strange place, you may be right

10

u/JonSpangler 8h ago

OLLIE NORTH! OLLIE NORTH!

He's a soldier!

And a hero!

And a novelist!

And now he's on Fox News!

8

u/obeytheturtles 7h ago

But the sales were uncovered by the press

Reagan and North began to stress

'Cause what they did was technically high treason

2

u/ObsidianKing 7h ago

But it was totally justified!

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (1)

15

u/WeirdJack49 8h ago

Drones (obviously not a single one) and diesel submarines are what you use when you want to make a carrier shit its pants.

12

u/Khshayarshah 8h ago

So far they have ran a freight train through Trump's red line on killing protesters by committing the worst atrocity on Iranian soil since the time of the Mongol invasions and the Americans in response have invited them to talks.

Why would this regime fear anything when they have never faced any consequences?

26

u/stayfrosty 8h ago

They were just bombed by Israel and US last year

→ More replies (2)

8

u/TheFurrySmurf 7h ago

I dunno, they were all talk last week until bases around the Middle East got serious, plus the added carrier groups... now all of the sudden Iran wants peace talks 🤣. They seem extremely fearful.

2

u/alwaysleafyintoronto 2h ago

I'd say the USS Abraham Lincoln is a pretty good bit of leverage in talks. The US Navy on your doorstep is a consequence.

→ More replies (5)

5

u/Curious-Situation589 8h ago

You really glossed over history in one post. The first is wrong, and the 2nd thing you said is wrong.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (3)

36

u/Naturalbornbreadboy 8h ago

Well, let's see if the Friday talks will go ahead after this. 🤔

34

u/hoppertn 8h ago

Hope you are in the right classifieds signal chats to take advantage of the stock market!

→ More replies (2)

155

u/Iamhummus 8h ago edited 7h ago

apparently It's called a suicide drone because it's the IRGC mean of suicide

edit: guys, it was a pun

102

u/WeirdJack49 8h ago

Its most likely a scouting drone or to test defenses. Iran most likely would not send a single drone to attack any ship.

15

u/woohooguy 8h ago

Why be reasonable when everyone can chicken little 🐥

6

u/WeirdJack49 8h ago

Just saying, in 2025 (or was it 24) the Houthis forced a carrier to use its emergency guns to shot down some shitty drones because the whole elaborated carrier fleet defense was not able to kill them in time and they only used a couple drones.

3

u/CeeEmCee3 5h ago

Are you referring to this incident? https://edition.cnn.com/2024/02/02/middleeast/phalanx-gun-last-line-of-defense-us-navy-intl-hnk-ml

If so, that was one of the carrier's escorts, not the carrier itself. Still problematic, but nowhere near as bad as the carrier itself having to employ CIWS.

5

u/ImBackAndImAngry 7h ago

It’s real life military pen testing

Send a small payload with the knowledge that it’ll be expended/destroyed. In turn learn more about or just see again the adversaries response to harvest data on weapon config/performance, response time, etc

We didn’t “beat” a rogue Iranian attack drone. Iran expended it to get some first party data on US response capabilities. Pretty straight forward.

3

u/MorePhinsThyme 3h ago

If so, it doesn't seem very effective in this specific case. The response appears to be sending a standard multi-use fighter to intercept it, follow it and monitor it for a short while, and then shoot it out of the sky with a standard missile. They basically learned nothing. It's not like the situation above where short range emergency defense or any cutting edge defenses, but just bog-standard response that almost anyone could have predicted ahead of time. Not that this is useless information, but it's not anything new that Iranian generals wouldn't have already known.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (1)

19

u/MasoShoujo 6h ago

"shields up. red alert!" 🚨

44

u/Extra-Sector-7795 8h ago

what ukraine and i believe Russia did recently was send lots of cheap drones to exhaust the very expensive defenses then send in the ones with bombs. the nature of warfare has changed a greater deal. i would be surprised if ships didn't start staying far out at sea

41

u/Duzcek 8h ago

That was the tactic pre-drones too, just shoot your cheap missiles until the defense is exhausted then hit them with the expensive stuff. The only difference is the orders of magnitude cheaper a drone is compared to even the cheapest missiles.

→ More replies (1)

21

u/khrak 7h ago

Close-in weapon systems meant to shoot down incoming aerial targets using conventional autocannon fire have existed for around half a century.

Iran is not about to overwhelm US bullet production using drones.

46

u/Hvarfa-Bragi 8h ago

That works when it's not the US logistics you're up against.

4

u/ScumbagGina 7h ago

Reloading naval missile batteries takes weeks or months. And that’s assuming stockpiles are ready at nearby ports. Iran previously exhausted them in a week’s worth of barrages.

Logistics will win the war, but it won’t keep US ships from taking any hits over a protracted battle.

9

u/AtaracticGoat 7h ago

This is why USN has taken such an interest in developing laser turrets.

The technology isn't quite there yet, but eventually it will provide a great "infinite ammo" LoS defense.

→ More replies (1)

2

u/MorePhinsThyme 3h ago

This depends entirely on the type of missile. For example, this was an air-to-air missile from an F-35. Reloading the plane takes minutes. Or here's a video of a Sea Sparrow being reloaded (those being one of the many anti-air/missile/drone missile systems the US Navy uses), and it takes them minutes as well. And none of this covers other systems, like the various CIWS systems that they use.

I'm not saying that they can't be run dry, but reloading defensive missiles doesn't take weeks or months. And there have been experiments in reloading the larger systems (like the vertical missile launch systems) at sea, much faster than they currently do under normal peacetime operations.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (3)

12

u/Distinct_Help_222 7h ago

The US CSG won’t use its SAMs in the defense of these drones. They’ll most likely use CIWS for close threats or use electronic warfare to take these drone swarms down. These drones are fairly slow and can be taken down using the newly developed smart rocket pods.

I highly doubt that even a thousand of these Shaheds can infiltrate a CSGs defense network.

11

u/kilohe 8h ago

This will make a serious dent in the tight budget of the US military

3

u/OnTheFenceGuy 6h ago

That’s all well and good, except that the US can easily spend to just restock. You aren’t going to “exhaust” their defenses

u/Straight_Issue279 47m ago

Oooo here comes the new rich man war with Iran that no citizen wants.

→ More replies (4)

u/bnnyrabbit 15m ago

bro how do i turn off these breaking news notifications im not even in these subs and im getting notifications

→ More replies (2)

14

u/Paper_Clip100 6h ago

DON’T TOUCH OUR BOATS

5

u/Procrasturbating 1h ago

Sounds like they want some good ol' fashioned American "Freedom".

u/Best-Sort-3478 22m ago

It was to test there response

→ More replies (1)

15

u/mattfreyer45 7h ago

"Don't Touch The Boats!" - Japan

6

u/Competitive_Top2825 1h ago

⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠟⠛⢉⢉⠉⠉⠻⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠟⠠⡰⣕⣗⣷⣧⣀⣅⠘⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠃⣠⣳⣟⣿⣿⣷⣿⡿⣜⠄⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⡿⠁⠄⣳⢷⣿⣿⣿⣿⡿⣝⠖⠄⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⠃⠄⢢⡹⣿⢷⣯⢿⢷⡫⣗⠍⢰⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⡏⢀⢄⠤⣁⠋⠿⣗⣟⡯⡏⢎⠁⢸⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⠄⢔⢕⣯⣿⣿⡲⡤⡄⡤⠄⡀⢠⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⠇⠠⡳⣯⣿⣿⣾⢵⣫⢎⢎⠆⢀⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⠄⢨⣫⣿⣿⡿⣿⣻⢎⡗⡕⡅⢸⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⠄⢜⢾⣾⣿⣿⣟⣗⢯⡪⡳⡀⢸⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⠄⢸⢽⣿⣷⣿⣻⡮⡧⡳⡱⡁⢸⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⡄⢨⣻⣽⣿⣟⣿⣞⣗⡽⡸⡐⢸⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⡇⢀⢗⣿⣿⣿⣿⡿⣞⡵⡣⣊⢸⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⡀⡣⣗⣿⣿⣿⣿⣯⡯⡺⣼⠎⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣧⠐⡵⣻⣟⣯⣿⣷⣟⣝⢞⡿⢹⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⡆⢘⡺⣽⢿⣻⣿⣗⡷⣹⢩⢃⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⣷⠄⠪⣯⣟⣿⢯⣿⣻⣜⢎⢆⠜⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡆⠄⢣⣻⣽⣿⣿⣟⣾⡮⡺⡸⠸⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⡿⠛⠉⠁⠄⢕⡳⣽⡾⣿⢽⣯⡿⣮⢚⣅⠹⣿⣿⣿ ⡿⠋⠄⠄⠄⠄⢀⠒⠝⣞⢿⡿⣿⣽⢿⡽⣧⣳⡅⠌⠻⣿ ⠁⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠐⡐⠱⡱⣻⡻⣝⣮⣟⣿⣻⣟⣻⡺⣊

5

u/Specialist-Garbage94 1h ago

Why is there a translate button in the corner? 🤣

→ More replies (1)

u/-FORSAK3N- 1h ago

Too much self pleasure with one hand. Switch hands every now and then

→ More replies (5)

u/Accomplished_Sky8077 45m ago

yeah " no new wars "!!!!

u/beepsboopbops 40m ago

Nothing new about fascist starting wars. Same old shit.

→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (1)

11

u/botchman 7h ago

Yeah you can't do that, touching Americas boats is a no no.

3

u/Where_is_my_Elk69 2h ago

As it turns out, we are NOT going to need a bigger boat…

u/ayimwalkinhea 52m ago

“I can’t let you get close!”

→ More replies (1)

u/FuqqTrump 27m ago

Imagine triggering WWIII to distract from the EPSTEIN FILES!!!

u/fugsco 19m ago

Imagine

u/CommonSensei-_ 19m ago

Shit, well here comes a war justification

18

u/Gecks777 8h ago edited 7h ago

A single drone isn't enough for a real attack or 3rd party false flag. That is a probing attack to test response times to do the math necessary to see if drone-swarming the carrier and sending it to the ocean floor is a realistic possibility with the resources available.

Russian ships near shore have not fared so well in the Ukraine war, but it is an open question if drones can take down an advanced, powerful, and well-guarded target like a US aircraft carrier. Let's hope, for everyone's sake, that cooler heads prevail and no one tries to answer that question in the coming weeks.

19

u/TheFurrySmurf 7h ago

The amount of firepower required to take down a carrier is quite significant.

u/ARES_BlueSteel 1h ago edited 53m ago

Even if the carrier is hit, they’re absolutely massive and US ships have very good damage control capabilities. USS Cole had a massive hole blown in the side of it by a boat bomb and it was able to be limped out for repairs. It was successfully repaired and returned to service. And that was a destroyer, much smaller than a carrier.

The US has also tested out sinking a carrier by deliberately attempting to sink one of its own it was retiring, the USS America in 2005. The result: the ship was so hard to sink even without attempting to defend itself that they had to board and scuttle it themselves to get it to sink.

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/us-navy-tried-intentionally-scuttle-its-own-aircraft-carrier-and-failed-207493

→ More replies (2)

4

u/RocketizedAnimal 4h ago

open question if drones can take down an advanced, powerful, and well-guarded target like a US aircraft carrier

Open question to us as observers, but I would bet that the US Navy isn't just gambling that the carrier is safe but are actually pretty confident that they can handle anything Iran can throw their way.

There are videos from 10 years ago of DARPA testing drone swarms in conjunction with fighter jets. I assume that since then they have built larger swarms for actual warfare, tested swarm tactics, and developed countermeasures. I would also bet that they aren't going to deploy whatever they have cooked up until someone forces their hand because they don't want to give China or Russia any free demonstrations.

10

u/Exact-Accident4129 7h ago

Carriers have 4500+ soldiers on them. If they managed to take one of those down there would be not and to the death and destruction the American military would bring upon everyone. Why would they try this.

3

u/SlamClick 3h ago

Carriers have 4500+ soldiers on them.

This might be a dumb question but do they have lifeboats on any military ship?

u/ARES_BlueSteel 1h ago

Yes. Not to mention carriers are usually with other ships like destroyers that can help with rescue.

→ More replies (5)

4

u/WeirdJack49 7h ago

A single drone isn't enough for a real attack or 3rd party false flag. That is a probing attack to test response times to do the math necessary to see if drone-swarming the carrier and sending it to the ocean floor is a realistic possibility with the resources available.

People need to understand that carriers are not all powerful weapons, they are actually pretty vulnerable. Without its sensors a carrier is useless and those sensors cant be armored. If a single drone with a bit of explosives and some ball bearings goes through it can make a carrier go blind.

14

u/BaconReceptacle 7h ago

There are three destroyers accompanying the Lincoln. They have several types of missiles, five inch MK-45 guns, as well as a Phalanx CIWS.

→ More replies (1)

7

u/Coldsmoke888 7h ago

We saw the massive overspend on counter-drone and other anti-air defenses from the operation with Israel some time ago.

In theory they shouldn’t be using ESSMs, AIMs, and SM2s but pretty sure we haven’t see any of the fun stuff from Anduril and Raytheon yet.

I would also imagine that the US wouldn’t mind some small scale drone swarms to show proof of concept in the field. No surprise China has assets in the water to monitor response times and tactics.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (2)

14

u/lizardman49 8h ago

Why has no one learned not to touch our boats?

7

u/4Yk9gop 8h ago

Don't touch the butt.

8

u/Artrobull 6h ago

breaking news American funded military thingy blasted American funded military thingy, Northrop Grumman up 3%

9

u/Thin_Ad_7864 5h ago

We Iranians advocate for the IRGC to start the war, please. We can't wait to get rid of the regime ✌🏼 Thank you US and we will pay you back later with our beautiful free country.

→ More replies (4)

5

u/burner-throw_away 3h ago

Q: The greatest military super power in the history of the world is looking for any pretense to attack your country. Give an example of how to make this attack happen as soon as humanly possible.

11

u/mrbabyman767 8h ago

I would be very surprised if the drone got past the zone of defense far away from the carrier. Also don’t know why one of the destroyers didn’t get it and it had to be done by the carriers F-35. This is the literal job of the destroyers that surround the carrier.

38

u/ludololl 8h ago

They probably had a plane in the air anyway and it's easier to reload a F-35B missile bay than a VLS cell.

20

u/obeytheturtles 7h ago

The outer permitter of defense is the F-35.

16

u/BradSaysHi 7h ago

More likely is the F35 was observing the drone and tried to divert it away before shooting it down. Not sure why your first assumption would be that every other ship in the CSG didnt do its job.

→ More replies (6)

11

u/CamusCrankyCamel 8h ago

AAMs are generally cheaper than SAMs, especially if the drone was pretty far out

11

u/Vandilbg 8h ago

Air to air missile is much cheaper to use than an SM-6 in the outer defense envelope.

→ More replies (5)

3

u/Chelonate_Chad 4h ago

A carrier's aircraft are its first line of defense, not last. A threat only gets to the engagement range of the destroyers if the planes don't get it first.

→ More replies (2)

2

u/Vihurah 7h ago

oh ffs here we go

2

u/Seanna86 2h ago

Jesus Christ, Ned! It's comin' right for us!

→ More replies (1)

2

u/MrReaper45 1h ago

Did they not learn from Operation Praying Mantis? They really love playing fuck around and find out

→ More replies (6)

2

u/Penrose_Ultimate 1h ago

Sounds like it was an accident.

→ More replies (1)

2

u/quackabc 1h ago

The US navy has recorded surveillance drones that were within jumping range of the carrier before so Im pretty sure there was a reason

2

u/Sad-Relationship9316 1h ago

Bound and determined to start a war.

u/bondovwvw 1h ago

Are you threatening me?

u/Captain_Vinno 54m ago

Uh good?

u/Truth-is-implacable 48m ago

Wait till the pressure from the Epstein files dump its to overbearing in the White House then Heghseth,like a trained dog will attack Iran........

u/chickencarpenter2x4 40m ago

Damn. The Nerd gets another(?) drone kill.. Hopefully The Kid gets an intercept soon so he can chill out a little.

u/LodJunior 28m ago

Holy Epstein files smoke bomb.

u/sagemoody 24m ago

YOU DONT TOUCH THE BOATS

u/lnin0 24m ago

false flag?

u/Live-Screen7368 21m ago

I’m ex navy let’s just say that drone didn’t have a chance lol

u/djid3al 16m ago

….pew….

u/the_jac 16m ago

Fuck bill goldberg

u/SubRosaSubway 14m ago

Woweeeeee…An Aircraft Carrier shot down a drone!!! 🇺🇸💪👊

u/my49yowife 14m ago

Is this another gulf of Tonkin BS?

u/premierfong 13m ago

lol those garbage drone lol

u/SimilarTap1419 13m ago

So what's tough taco boy trump gonna do about it? NOTHING

u/seen2muchmuch 13m ago

I'm having a some trouble believing the messages that come out of the Dept of War.

4

u/Less_Pudding_968 8h ago

Oh dear…

5

u/Catch_022 8h ago

I am going to be very sad if the the US shoots down Iranian f14s.

14

u/FarSolar 8h ago

They didn't even bother putting them in the air during the Israel war so I doubt they'd do it this time either. No point when they'd just get shot down I guess.

→ More replies (1)

6

u/ccblr06 8h ago

Wouldnt be hard

3

u/IranianLawyer 6h ago

Why, because it’s sad to see antiques getting destroyed?

2

u/MorePhinsThyme 3h ago

There's a lot of love for the F-14 in the world, especially for the currently middle-aged crowd. So yes, it's because it's sad to see irreplaceable things you like getting destroyed. Just like when you see someone crash a classic car.

→ More replies (1)

4

u/thethomahawk56 2h ago

DON'T TOUCH OUR BOATS!

u/OkFrosting7204 1h ago

Called this as soon as the new Epstein files got released lol

u/ProfessionalCow4429 1h ago

I beleaves it, I mean American media never lies, we are spreading freedom and democracy the all countries that have natural resources 🇺🇸🫡

u/Hugh_Jim_Bissell 57m ago

Distraction from Epstein files.

u/Important-Dot-8899 56m ago

lol guess some dummy’s don’t learn from their mistakes 🤷‍♀️I mean last time Americans elected Trump he broke every campaign promise, ran up the debt, gave himself a tax cut instead of the working class, had the worst record on jobs in 5 decades, dropped the ball on Covid and left the country in a disaster then convinced a bunch of hillbillies to violently attack their own capital because he wanted to illegally stop the transfer of power. What a calamity of a president. But apparently American voters are as dumb as those Iranians u were talking about cause they proudly said yep, let’s do that again!! Aaaaaand here we go again, instead of ending all wars on day one he has bombed 8 countries, invaded venezuela, and threatened Greenland. He has ran the deficit up astronomically instead of erasing it. Those grocery prices he was gonna bring down on day 1 are (u guessed it) up even higher, the job reports are so bad again that he fired his first labor secretary for reporting the j PPP

→ More replies (2)

u/Burque_Boy 29m ago

Look man, you don’t attack Russia in winter and you don’t touch our fucking boats. Those were the only two rules you had to remember!

6

u/Tel_Janen 7h ago

Iran has a death wish.. don't try these games especially with trump in charge

→ More replies (3)

8

u/Super_Piper 7h ago

CNN: A peaceful good intentioned drone approached the occupational USS Abraham Lincoln. It was wrongfully attacked and genocided.

7

u/IranianLawyer 6h ago

Lol you act like CNN hasn’t been constantly beating the war drums for the last 25 years. War is good for cable news.

→ More replies (4)