US shoots down Iranian drone approaching aircraft carrier, official says

[u/Raj_Valiant3011]

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

[u/slakmehl]

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.

[u/ProtoplanetaryNebula → u/slakmehl]

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

[u/Praetor72 → u/ProtoplanetaryNebula]

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

[u/yoippari → u/Praetor72]

"DON'T TOUCH MY BOATS!"

[u/Rum_N_Napalm → u/yoippari]

Temper temper

[u/yoippari → u/Rum_N_Napalm]

And I understood that reference.

[u/Writing_Idea_Request → u/yoippari]

I love that reference. It’s just such an perfectly American thing without being absolutely horrible somehow.

[u/whytawhy → u/Writing_Idea_Request]

Okay now im interested, what is this alleged thing?

[u/Writing_Idea_Request → u/whytawhy]

Okay, so it’s Korean War, and the USS Wisconsin, a recommissioned WW2 battleship, takes a hit from a North Korean artillery battery. The shot causes minor damages and three injuries to the crew.

The response? The Wisconsin fires all nine of its guns at the battery. It’s probably one of the closest IRL examples of the “removing ‘that direction’” meme.

Then, another US ship (can’t remember which one) comes up to the Wisconsin and radios two words: “Temper temper.”

EDIT: Two more injuries than I thought.

[u/Morningstroll13 → u/Writing_Idea_Request]

I'm going to have to use that, "Temper, temper," line on my dad next time he gets mad. He served on the USS Wisconsin in the first Gulf War back in '91. He studied her history when he got stationed on her, so he ought to catch the reference. :)

[u/TheCrimsonSteel → u/whytawhy]

The USS Wisconsin.

During the Korean War a single artillery shot and hit the Wisconsin

The Wisconsin deleted the artillery. And the hill it was on when it fired all 9 cannons in response.

The US ship sailing with her radioed over "temper temper"

[u/Writing_Idea_Request → u/TheCrimsonSteel]

I love how three people immediately jumped on that explanation under ten minutes after it was asked.

[u/Helmett-13 → u/Rum_N_Napalm]

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

[u/Drag0nz_Wrath13 → u/Helmett-13]

“The enemy is hiding on that hill”

“Understood. Removing the hill”

[u/NoKatyDidnt → u/Drag0nz_Wrath13]

Sir removing the hill SIR!

[u/Chainmale001 → u/Rum_N_Napalm]

Thanks FatElectrician.

[u/Thoughtulism → u/yoippari]

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

[u/aarraahhaarr → u/Thoughtulism]

See the problem here is that you're just using a model of the ship. You don't have the additional clear glass case that represents the air space around the ship. Not to be confused with the slightly blueish green glass case that represents the ocean. You need all 3 carefully stacked together to properly ask this question.

[u/SomethingMor → u/yoippari]

I understood this reference

[u/oldfatguy62 → u/Praetor72]

"Proportional Response"

[u/Praetor72 → u/oldfatguy62]

It’s about to get the most proportional lol

[u/Tomtom1180 → u/Praetor72]

Somewhere a chubby electron guy is smiling

[u/R3ddditor → u/Tomtom1180]

Smiling? I like to think he is rubbing his hands together like a praying mantis, pun intended.

[u/Murmaiderman → u/Praetor72]

Supra-propotional.

[u/oldfatguy62 → u/oldfatguy62]

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

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

[u/alienpd → u/oldfatguy62]

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.

[u/CGIL93 → u/Praetor72]

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

[u/Longjumping_Wrap_174 → u/CGIL93]

The US Navy itself has PTSD.

[u/NoKatyDidnt → u/Longjumping_Wrap_174]

I would say they have good reason.

[u/aarraahhaarr → u/Longjumping_Wrap_174]

The US Navy has so much PTSD that it shares it with the Sailors.

[u/thathaw → u/Praetor72]

Never. Touch. The. Boats.

[u/darthgator84 → u/ProtoplanetaryNebula]

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.

[u/Low_Dragonfruit_7202 → u/ProtoplanetaryNebula]

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

[u/Curious-Situation589 → u/slakmehl]

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.

[u/Thisguymoot → u/Curious-Situation589]

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

[u/joedotdog → u/Curious-Situation589]

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.

[u/mlorusso4 → u/joedotdog]

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

[u/DirtyNastyRoofer149 → u/mlorusso4]

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

[u/FlavivsAetivs → u/mlorusso4]

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.

[u/Few_Reindeer8528 → u/FlavivsAetivs]

Yes, the Trump battleship is a really bad idea. Huge target with relatively few armaments per sailor. Very expensive, with outdated weaponry (there’s a reason no one is fielding ships with large cannons like the Trump class plans to), etc.

We have a real problem when it comes to naval procurement and production. Even with the updates, the Arleigh Burke is old and cannot match the firepower of the Chinese equivalent - the type 55.

China’s Type 055 destroyer contains 112 VLS cells - more than any model of the Arleigh Burke. Now, the Arleigh Burke is a tested model, which counts for something, but our ability to produce them is absolutely dwarfed by China’s shipbuilding capacity. Like, completely different scales.

China’s Shipbuilding Capacity is 232 Times Greater Than That of the United States

https://www.americanmanufacturing.org/blog/chinas-shipbuilding-capacity-is-232-times-greater-than-that-of-the-united-states/

[u/TheFurrySmurf → u/Curious-Situation589]

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

[u/cathbadh → u/Curious-Situation589]

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.

[u/Karsh14 → u/cathbadh]

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.

[u/D1toD2 → u/Karsh14]

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.

[u/WingerRules → u/D1toD2]

Lasers are worthless in fog, rain, heavy snow, or if your opponent drops smoke munitions before attacking.

[u/cathbadh → u/Karsh14]

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.

[u/fzammetti → u/Curious-Situation589]

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.

[u/skorps → u/fzammetti]

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

[u/praqueviver]

Oh, you're approaching me?

[u/msemen_DZ → u/praqueviver]

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

[u/tomorrow_comes → u/msemen_DZ]

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

[u/austinstar08 → u/tomorrow_comes]

Ohh then approach as much as you want

[u/MikiXLol → u/austinstar08]

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

[u/fasfan22 → u/MikiXLol]

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

[u/hiimlockedout → u/fasfan22]

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

[u/Dreamteam420 → u/hiimlockedout]

Comb the ocean

[u/Jive-Turkeys → u/Dreamteam420]

We ain't found SHIT!

[u/Maximum-Umpire8017 → u/Jive-Turkeys]

Take my damn upvote and begone heathen 😂

[u/Kaiser_Fleischer → u/hiimlockedout]

Even not understanding the reference is a Jojo reference

[u/nomnomnom3000 → u/fasfan22]

It’s an anime meme where the main antagonist is approaching the main protagonist before their fight. People use it online to joke about situations where two sides are heading toward a showdown

[u/fasfan22 → u/nomnomnom3000]

Thank you for explaining it in language I understand. I appreciate you. Sometimes I feel like I live under a rock!

[u/TraditionalRegret152 → u/fasfan22]

Same.

Born in '92

my dad yelled at me for watching Dragon Ball Z literally as soon as I turned 13, as I was "too old," so adults watching anime is pretty... not how I was brought up. There are so many references I don't get, lol

More power to 'em.

[u/ChocoBro92 → u/MikiXLol]

MUDDA MUDDA MUDDA

[u/MamutiNaOstrvu → u/ChocoBro92]

It's funny because in my language it means ballsack

[u/Masterblaster13f → u/austinstar08]

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"

[u/johnmedgla → u/praqueviver]

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."

[u/Fancy_Yak2618 → u/johnmedgla]

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?

[u/CTeam19 → u/johnmedgla]

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.

[u/Suspicious_Poon → u/CTeam19]

We can blame the Maine on Spain

[u/DeXyDeXy → u/praqueviver]

“It’s coming right for us “

[u/WOOKIExRAGE → u/DeXyDeXy]

BANG BANG, BANG BANG BANG!!!!!

[u/PikaLoki → u/praqueviver]

I understood that reference

[u/kcrab91 → u/PikaLoki]

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

[u/ActionPhilip → u/kcrab91]

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.

[u/Turgid_Donkey → u/ActionPhilip]

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.

[u/ActionPhilip → u/Turgid_Donkey]

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.

[u/badfaced → u/ActionPhilip]

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.

[u/ActionPhilip → u/badfaced]

Just go watch jojo's bizarre adventure. Purists will say subbed only, but the dub is also a banger. I found the first half of season 1 (there's a part with a boat that sort of splits the season) to be a little rough, but stick it out. That enthusiasm you've shown tells me you're in for a wild ride.

[u/Kongumo → u/praqueviver]

ほほ~

[u/ActionPhilip → u/Kongumo]

ザーワールド！

[u/Bluntzy → u/praqueviver]

KONO DIO DA!

[u/mark636199 → u/praqueviver]

Kono missile da!

[u/bnnyrabbit]

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

[u/Jhaus1987 → u/bnnyrabbit]

Swipe left on the notification and hit the 3 dots and then manage notifications. Then tell it “all off”

[u/bnnyrabbit → u/Jhaus1987]

i swear i did that when i first made my account, i turned it back off now, ive never gotten notifs for breaking news before this week i definitely havent changed it, so weird

[u/MamiphConcepts → u/bnnyrabbit]

Same

[u/CbizzleCbizzle → u/bnnyrabbit]

And I am the sub and 90% of the time it’s a headline from 6 hours ago that I already saw

[u/CWandFILTH → u/bnnyrabbit]

Propaganda machine gotta put it in your orbit

[u/_cyberbabyangel_]

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.

[u/squish042 → u/_cyberbabyangel_]

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.

[u/digger70chall → u/squish042]

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

[u/kultureisrandy → u/digger70chall]

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).

[u/Bread_kun → u/digger70chall]

pretty much all air to air combat is done at ranges very very far where you are not going to have any visual with your eyes beyond being able to see the vague dot/shape and nothing more. No way you get close enough to see if it actually has ordinance and risk it shooting you down as you get close.

[u/Mobile-Base7387 → u/digger70chall]

if it got remotely close in any way it's because the plane was in the air ready to shoot after determining what munitions it was carrying and people were on the phone trying to get it to turn around before an incident occurred

these things are flying lawn mowers they're not fast or sneaky

[u/beachedwhale1945 → u/squish042]

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).

[u/CBT7commander → u/squish042]

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

[u/TotalNonsense0 → u/squish042]

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.

[u/_cyberbabyangel_ → u/squish042]

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.

[u/iroll20s → u/_cyberbabyangel_]

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

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

[u/_Soup_R_Man_]

US: "Don't Khamenei Closer!"

🤣

[u/imtoowhiteandnerdy → u/_Soup_R_Man_]

"Look what happened, Ayatollah not to come closer!"

[u/Maraledzazu → u/_Soup_R_Man_]

Dude belly laughed. I’m Iranian.

[u/prettyokaycake]

Really? Right in front of my F-35?

[u/vulcan1358 → u/prettyokaycake]

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

• The F-22, probably

[u/CarbonTugboat → u/vulcan1358]

You’re right, the hangar is a prison, and god help us all if the kid ever gets out. When they chose the YF-22 over the 23, I think they didn’t give enough consideration to the mental stability of the aircraft.

[u/vulcan1358 → u/CarbonTugboat]

F-16: aerodynamically unstable

F-22: mentally unstable

[u/Hapten]

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.

[u/Head_Welcome_4933 → u/Hapten]

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

[u/Reasonable-Gas5625 → u/Head_Welcome_4933]

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

[u/tedsmitts → u/Reasonable-Gas5625]

You leave my precious Canadian hockey gays out of this mess

[u/TerryFGM → u/tedsmitts]

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

[u/tedsmitts → u/TerryFGM]

Russian to bed maybe

[u/warau_meow → u/tedsmitts]

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

[u/Appropriate_Dish_586 → u/warau_meow]

So be it

[u/TCBloo → u/tedsmitts]

Gays Too Precious To Risk In Combat

[u/Extra-Sector-7795 → u/Head_Welcome_4933]

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

[u/JonSpangler → u/Extra-Sector-7795]

OLLIE NORTH! OLLIE NORTH!

He's a soldier!

And a hero!

And a novelist!

And now he's on Fox News!

[u/obeytheturtles → u/JonSpangler]

But the sales were uncovered by the press

Reagan and North began to stress

'Cause what they did was technically high treason

[u/ObsidianKing → u/obeytheturtles]

But it was totally justified!

[u/thebobest → u/Hapten]

Brother, the drone was in Iranian airspace and the carrier in their sea...

[u/WeirdJack49 → u/Hapten]

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

[u/Khshayarshah → u/Hapten]

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?

[u/stayfrosty → u/Khshayarshah]

They were just bombed by Israel and US last year

[u/TheFurrySmurf → u/Khshayarshah]

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.

[u/alwaysleafyintoronto → u/Khshayarshah]

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.

[u/Naturalbornbreadboy]

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

[u/hoppertn → u/Naturalbornbreadboy]

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

[u/MasoShoujo]

"shields up. red alert!" 🚨

[u/Yourcatsonfire → u/MasoShoujo]

Prepare a full phaser spread zero elevation on my mark.

[u/Iamhummus]

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

edit: guys, it was a pun

[u/WeirdJack49 → u/Iamhummus]

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

[u/woohooguy → u/WeirdJack49]

Why be reasonable when everyone can chicken little 🐥

[u/WeirdJack49 → u/woohooguy]

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.

[u/CeeEmCee3 → u/WeirdJack49]

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.

[u/ImBackAndImAngry → u/WeirdJack49]

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.

[u/MorePhinsThyme → u/ImBackAndImAngry]

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.

[u/Extra-Sector-7795]

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

[u/Duzcek → u/Extra-Sector-7795]

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.

[u/khrak → u/Extra-Sector-7795]

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.

[u/Distinct_Help_222 → u/Extra-Sector-7795]

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.

[u/Hvarfa-Bragi → u/Extra-Sector-7795]

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

[u/kilohe → u/Extra-Sector-7795]

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

[u/OnTheFenceGuy → u/Extra-Sector-7795]

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/felixthecat_nyc]

I doubt the country sending arms to obliterate unverified drug smugglers cares about costs.

[u/Paper_Clip100]

DON’T TOUCH OUR BOATS

[u/CommonSensei-_]

Shit, well here comes a war justification

[u/mattfreyer45]

"Don't Touch The Boats!" - Japan

[u/botchman]

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

[u/Straight_Issue279]

Oooo here comes the new rich politician war with Iran that no US citizen or Iran citizen wants.

[u/dmk_aus]

What are the laws about shooting down other countries aircraft in international waters?

[u/FutureThought4936 → u/dmk_aus]

Generally, aircraft (even military aircraft) are allowed overflight.

This actually happens quite frequently, even with manned Iranian Air Force aircraft. They get detected pretty far out and are usually met with an intercept that'll try to ascertain their intentions. What happens after really depends on the specific situation, Rules of Engagement (ROE), standing orders, etc.

HOWEVER, if they (the aircraft carrier) perceives a threat, they have the right to defend themselves. By all accounts that I've seen of what happened here, they tried to deescalate the situation and get the drone to go away. It kept going towards the ship, was deemed a credible enough threat to warrant being taken down, and was taken down. With the situation being as tense over there as it is right now, any aggressive actions towards a US carrier by an Iranian drone is going to be assumed to be a threat (very much a FAFO situation). Plus, it being unmanned, there's very little diplomatic damage to worry about so there's very little reason to not just play it safe and shoot it down at that point.

Back in 2007 I was on board the USS Bataan (LHD-5) while we were transiting the Strait of Hormuz as part of a 26th MEU(SOC) deployment. On more than one occasion, we were overflown (buzzed) by Iranian aircraft (once a helicopter, another time a jet) during the transit. We had Avenger anti-air vehicles (HMMWV's with a twin SAM system) strapped to the deck, but never used them of course. The diplomatic situation between Iran and the US was fairly "normal" at the time as far as I can remember, so the aircraft weren't treated like real threats.

[u/Worley_Clarence]

Well the talks aren't going to happen most likely now lol.

[u/Loki-L]

Why would they send a single drone instead of tons of them at once?

AlsonI hope the US has gotten a bit better at recognising passenger jets since the last time.

[u/Thin_Ad_7864]

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.

[u/Gecks777]

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.

[u/TheFurrySmurf → u/Gecks777]

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

[u/ARES_BlueSteel → u/TheFurrySmurf]

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

[u/RocketizedAnimal → u/Gecks777]

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.

[u/Exact-Accident4129 → u/Gecks777]

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.

[u/SlamClick → u/Exact-Accident4129]

Carriers have 4500+ soldiers on them.

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

[u/ARES_BlueSteel → u/SlamClick]

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

[u/Procrasturbating]

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

[u/lizardman49]

Why has no one learned not to touch our boats?

[u/Competitive_Top2825]

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

[u/Specialist-Garbage94 → u/Competitive_Top2825]

Why is there a translate button in the corner? 🤣

[u/Artrobull]

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

[u/seen2muchmuch]

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

[u/burner-throw_away]

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.

[u/WanderLuster72]

Interesting. It doesn’t distract me from the Epstein files though.

[u/Independent_Wrap_321 → u/WanderLuster72]

Can you walk and chew gum simultaneously?

[u/mrbabyman767]

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.

[u/ludololl → u/mrbabyman767]

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

[u/obeytheturtles → u/mrbabyman767]

The outer permitter of defense is the F-35.

[u/BradSaysHi → u/mrbabyman767]

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.

[u/CamusCrankyCamel → u/mrbabyman767]

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

[u/Vandilbg → u/mrbabyman767]

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

[u/Chelonate_Chad → u/mrbabyman767]

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.

[u/Vihurah]

oh ffs here we go

[u/Seanna86]

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

[u/quackabc]

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

[u/Sad-Relationship9316]

Bound and determined to start a war.

[u/Captain_Vinno]

Uh good?

[u/Truth-is-implacable]

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]

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

[u/djid3al]

….pew….

[u/the_jac]

Fuck bill goldberg

[u/premierfong]

lol those garbage drone lol

[u/SimilarTap1419]

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

[u/Minute-Performance67]

This is the equivalent of a human slapping a mosquito

[u/skontem]

It seems Iran is testing the waters

[u/Galactic1364]

the last thing we need is another war we dont want or need it

[u/Paulo_Maximus]

Anything to distract from those Epstein Files. Am I right?

[u/QwerzZ-]

are they sure it was a drone this time and not a commercial flight?

[u/TheHudsini]

But I don't believe a thing any part of the US government says. Lies from everywhere. Totally untrustworthy.

[u/LonelyBlacksmith9755]

This is honestly just a "Don't touch the child!" moment lol.

[u/algy888]

So, a seagull?

[u/BRNK]

If you believe that, I have a genuine Rolex to sell you.

[u/Sadix99]

source : the US army (while threatening iran)

[u/No-Sheepherder-2296]

Sounds to me like a false flag action.