Ayatollah Khamenei on X has stepped up threats to send US warships to the bottom of the sea. “Americans keep saying they sent a warship towards Iran. Of course a warship is a dangerous piece of military equipment. But more dangerous than that warship is the weapon that can send that warship to the bottom of the sea,” he (or his accomplices) tweeted on February 17.
Admiral Brad Cooper, who heads the United States Central Command, has troops available to counter Iran and launch attacks if ordered. Unfortunately, Iran has taken American lives over the years, and now the regime is desperate. With its airspace exposed by attacks on integrated air defenses ahead of Operation Midnight Hammer, Iran has few options to defend itself against stealth aircraft.
Expect Iran to try to hit American ships and bases.
Here are the four most important tactics in the ayatollah’s arsenal – and how the US will fight back.
Ships of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps are seen during a ceremony marking National Persian Gulf Day near Bushehr, Iran, on April 29, 2024. (Shadati/Xinhua via Getty Images)
Ballistic missiles
Iran launched short- and medium-range ballistic missiles against the US Al Udeid airbase in Qatar on June 23, 2025. A skeleton crew of American soldiers with two Patriot missile batteries intercepted the Iranian missiles. “We believe this is the largest Patriot engagement in American military history,” Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine said at a Pentagon briefing the next day.
The US Space Force will once again be on alert to detect the heat of Iranian missile launches and determine their target tracks. Iran’s ballistic missiles can attack multiple targets, but US forces stand ready to intercept. In 2024, U.S. Navy destroyers sailing in the eastern Mediterranean targeted Iranian missiles with nose-to-nose shots. They used Standard Missile-3 (SM-3), both the older Block 1 and the wide coverage Block 2A. SM-3 is a hit-to-kill weapon: it destroys Iranian missiles at an altitude of 20,000 meters, in the exo-atmosphere, at a speed of only 1,000 kilometers per hour. Bullet hits bullet. That is why the Navy’s destroyers are fanned out from the Mediterranean to the North Arabian Gulf.
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Drones
Iran produces many drones, but they will die if they come into contact with US forces. A Marine Corps fighter pilot flying an F-35C from the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln shot down one of Iran’s Shahed drones on February 3. That was a Shahed-139 surveillance drone, which also carries glide bombs and can loiter for up to 24 hours. It came too close to the aircraft carrier, as Central Command put it.
Victory credits go to the “Black Knights” of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron VMFA-314, as reported by USNI News. Killing drones was easy work for the F-35C, with its sensitive long-range radar and vectoring by Navy E-2D radar planes, which fly a huge dish radar to sort out good guys and bad guys. Forward surveillance by the E-2Ds will be essential as Iran launches waves of drones toward U.S. ships. USS Gerald R. Ford en route could add options for day and night combat air patrols against drones and missiles.
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If the attack is by land, wait for the US Air Force to strike. Over the past two years, American pilots have become masters of anti-drone tactics. It started when the US Air Force F-15E ‘Strike Eagles’ shot down waves of Iranian drones from an undisclosed base in the Middle East in April 2024. At one point, crew chiefs emerged from bunkers while the base was under fire to pull out the weapon pins before the F-15Es took off. They’re ready to do it again.
Swarming boats
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Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Navy has a long history of small-boat intimidation, and they like to brag about their “swarm” boat exercises. That’s over. Small Iranian rogue boats cannot form to “swim” under the constant eye – and weapons – of so many American ships and aircraft. Foolishly, two Iranian small boats and a drone tried to ‘swim’ a Swedish tanker carrying fuel for US troops. How did that go? Well, the US Navy destroyer USS McFaul chased them away, while Air Force land-based fighters zoomed out to help.
Cruise missiles
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Iran is full of cruise missiles of various types. Their low, winding path makes them difficult targets. The good news is that the U.S. Navy has conducted many target practice against Houthi missiles, such as when the destroyer USS Gravely deployed its “C-whiz” Phalanx Close-In Weapon System against a sea-skimming Houthi missile a mile from the ship on January 30, 2024. Normally, Navy missiles such as the SM-6 and the Evolved Sea Sparrow can nail the cruise missiles from tens of kilometers away. F-35 fighters are also good at chasing cruise missiles.
American forces have the edge over the ayatollah’s arsenal. But make no mistake. This is a combat zone. Constant vigilance will be the key to survival. Navy Sailors and Airmen, Marines, Soldiers and Space Force Guardians will feel the pressure and intensity of 24/7 operations. Maintenance personnel and ground crews at land bases have jets to deliver fuel, arm and launch, even against incoming drones and missiles. Protecting the armed forces is the highest priority and is the reason for the enormous number of forces now in U.S. Central Command. You can see why Trump has long sought curbs on Iran’s missile arsenal, and why missile and drone production sites are likely to be at the top of the list for the US military if diplomacy fails.
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