Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said that “we are in it to win it” with the operation against Iran‘s terror-sponsoring regime, and Admiral Brad Cooper provided a more detailed update on just how spectacular American and Israeli strikes have been so far.
During an official Department of War (DOW) press conference Thursday afternoon, Cooper said that the number of Iranian ships now sunk under ocean waves thanks to American forces is up to 30, with a particularly large vessel set ablaze just before the press conference began.
“if I just look back over the last 24 hours of the operation compared to where we were at its start, ballistic missile attacks have decreased by 90% since day one,” Cooper said, illuminating how few weapons the Iranian regime still has at its disposal.
He continued, “Drone attacks have decreased by 83% since day one. Having said this, we remain vigilant. Our strikes against the Iranian Navy have intensified. You may have heard the President say, just a little while ago that we have sunk or destroyed 24 ships. That was true at the moment. We're now up over 30 ships.”
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.@CENTCOM Commander Admiral Brad Cooper: "If I just look back over the last 24 hours of the operation compared to the where we were to start, ballistic missile attacks have decreased by 90%... Drone attacks have decreased by 83%... we’re now up over 30 ships [destroyed]." pic.twitter.com/tWKgheNfKv
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 5, 2026
Most impressively of all, and perhaps explaining why Hegseth and Cooper were late starting the press conference, they had just received word of another victory: “And in just the last few hours, we hit an Iranian drone carrier ship, roughly the size of a World War II aircraft carrier, and as we speak, it's on fire,” Cooper confirmed. When Hegseth and Trump said they were going to destroy the Iranian regime’s navy, they were not fooling around.
"100 Hours" of Operation Epic Fury. pic.twitter.com/XW5ZnRAJJL
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) March 4, 2026
Cooper also explained how the United States co-opted the Iranian drone design and weaponized those drones against the Iranian regime. “This was an original Iranian drone design. We captured it, pulled the guts out, sent it back to America, put a little 'Made in America' on it, brought it back here, and we're shooting it at the Iranians. Good targets,” he joked.
That saves a great deal of money on very expensive missiles, as the United States can now use much cheaper drones to fight the drones of the Iranians. Imagine saving American taxpayers money that way.
On top of all of that, of course, the United States is ensuring that the Iranian regime will have no nuclear capabilities.
.@CENTCOM Commander Admiral Brad Cooper: "@POTUS gave us another task — to raze or level Iran’s ballistic missile industrial base. We’re not just hitting what they have, were destroying their ability to rebuild...we will systemically dismantle Iran’s missile production capability… pic.twitter.com/xEZGVuoc3T
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 5, 2026
Operation Epic Fury continues to take down the worst terror-sponsoring regime in the world.
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