Reports say Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has gone underground, suggesting the country may be preparing for military action. A leading US drone expert told Fox on Sunday that Iranian drone swarms would pose a credible and serious threat to the Lincoln and its strike group.
The top US official said the Lincoln was not yet ready for possible future attacks on Iran.
Cameron Chell, CEO and co-founder of Dragonflytold Fox that Iran has created “an effective asymmetric threat against highly advanced military systems” with its fleet of unmanned drones, combining “cheap nuclear warheads with cheap delivery platforms.”
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The USS Abraham Lincoln sails in the Pacific Ocean. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communications Specialist Sailor Apprentice Daniel Kimmelman)
Chell said Iran could launch large numbers of relatively simple drones directly at naval vessels, creating saturation attacks that could overwhelm traditional defenses.
“If hundreds are launched in a short period of time, some will almost certainly get through,” Chell said.
‘Modern defense systems were not originally designed to counter those types of saturation attacks American surface ships Operating near Iran, warships are the main target,” he added.
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According to reports, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has gone underground. (Majid Saeedi/Getty Images)
U.S. officials say Washington is strengthening its military posture in response to growing instability in Iran, increasing its air, land and sea presence while closely monitoring developments in Syria.
A squadron of F-15 fighter jets has been deployed to the region and C-17 aircraft with heavy equipment have arrived.
Chell noted that U.S. and allied militaries are rapidly developing their defense mechanisms, but uncertainty remains about the new capabilities of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carriers for managing multiple Iranian drones flying in formation. He emphasized that Iran’s drone fleet is worrying.
Iranian drone swarms could pose a threat to the US. (Getty Images)
“These drones provide Iran with a highly credible way to threaten surface ships,” he said. “US assets in the region are large, move slowly and are easily identified on radar, making them susceptible to being targeted.”
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“Iran’s strength lies instead in these cheap, large-scale drone systems – particularly one-way attack drones that are designed to fly into a target and detonate,” he said.
