Caine says US struck more than 13,000 targets during 38-day assault on Iran
The U.S. military struck more than 13,000 targets since the beginning of Operation Epic Fury against Iran on Feb. 28, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force Gen. Dan Caine announced Wednesday.
“Since the beginning of major combat operations, the United States Joint Force has struck more than 13,000 targets, including in that 13,000, more than 4,000 dynamic targets that popped up on the battlefield and were immediately addressed thanks to the exceptional command and control system and intelligence acumen and agility of our joint force,” Caine said.
“CENTCOM forces destroyed approximately 80% of Iran's air defense systems, striking more than 1,500 air defense targets, more than 450 ballistic missile storage facilities, 801 one-way attack drones storage facilities,” Caine added. “All of these systems are gone.”
"We've devastated Iran's command and control and logistical networks, destroying more than 2,000 command and control nodes and degrading their ability to target U.S. and friendly forces,” he also said. “It is, and we know this, incredibly frustrating right now to be a lower-level Iranian commander trying to fight your fight.”
Caine said at the Pentagon that the U.S. has sunk approximately 90% of the Iranian Navy’s regular fleet.
“It will take years for Iran to rebuild any major surface combatants, as more than 20 naval production and fabrication facilities have been damaged or destroyed, and nearly 80% of Iran's nuclear industrial base was hit, further degrading their attempts to attain a nuclear weapon,” Caine also said.
Posted by Greg Norman-Diamond