Warships, explosive drones and stealth bombers: The high-tech weapons and hardware the US is using to attack Iran
By Brad Lendon, CNN
(CNN) — Before the US-Israeli strikes on Iran, Washington assembled its largest force and some of its most powerful weaponry in the Middle East in decades.
President Donald Trump had warned the US was “locked and loaded” – and Saturday’s strikes that killed Iran’s supreme leader gave that force a destructive purpose.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) on Sunday released a list of the US weaponry that has been used so far in the war with Iran.
Here’s a look at the assets used so far in what the Pentagon calls “Operation Epic Fury”:
B-2 stealth bombers: The bat-winged bombers, priced at more than a billion dollars each, are the most potent platform in the US Air Force. Powered by four jet engines, the B-2 can carry conventional or nuclear weapons, with intercontinental range and aerial refueling.
Piloted by a crew of two, the B-2s usually fly from their home at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, as they did last year when they struck Iranian nuclear complexes in a 34-hour round-trip mission.
That mission last June was undertaken by seven of the 19 B-2s in the fleet, with others used for a feint trip to Hawaii. They used the biggest of the US conventional bombs – the 30,000-pound massive ordnance penetrator – to attack three Iranian nuclear sites.
This time they used 2,000-pound bombs to hit Iranian ballistic missile installations, CENTCOM said.
LUCAS one-way drones: Operation Epic Fury marks the first use of the drones in combat for the US, according to CENTCOM.
The drone unit – Task Force Scorpion Strike (TFSS) – was activated in the Middle East late last year, a CENTCOM statement said.
“TFSS is designed to quickly deliver low cost and effective drone capabilities into the hands of warfighters,” the statement said.
The Low-cost Unmanned Combat Attack System (LUCAS) is essentially a knock off of the Iranian-designed Shahed 136 drones that Russia has used in large numbers in its war on Ukraine.
“These low-cost drones, modeled after Iran’s Shahed drones, are now delivering American-made retribution,” CENTCOM said in a social media post.
US warships: CENTCOM says US aircraft carriers and guided-missile destroyers have seen action in the war.
Two US aircraft carriers, the USS Abraham Lincoln and the USS Gerald R. Ford were in the Middle East when the strikes on Iran began. The Lincoln was in the Arabian Sea and the Ford in the Mediterranean off Israel.
CENTCOM has released video of F/A-18 and F-35 fighters taking off and landing on the Lincoln. The Ford doesn’t carry the F-35.
Iran has claimed it hit the Lincoln with ballistic missiles, something CENTCOM called a “LIE” in a social media post.
US video also shows guided-missile destroyers firing Tomahawk missiles. US Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, a number of which are in the region, can carry as many as 96 Tomahawks.
The destroyers, with their Aegis ballistic missile defense systems, can also be used to protect the carriers they often sail with and assets ashore.
Patriot and THAAD missile defense systems: Patriot and THAAD (Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense) batteries are used to combat incoming Iranian drones and ballistic missiles.
The number of Patriot and THAAD interceptors fired so far is unknown.
But Iran has sent thousands of drones and missiles at targets around the Middle East, and analysts have expressed concern that stocks of the interceptors, taxed by last year’s 12-day war between Israel and Iran, and by units supplied to Ukraine to defend against Russian attacks, could run low if Iran keeps up its retaliatory strikes over an extended time.
Fighter jets: CENTCOM says a range of fighter jets have seen action in the war’s first days. Those include F-16s, flown by the Air Force, and F/A-18s, flown by the Navy and Marine Corps.
Stealthy Air Force F-22s and F-35s, which are flown by the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps, have also been involved, CENTCOM said, without giving specific missions. It released videos showing the twin-engine F/A-18s and single-engine F-35s operating off an aircraft carrier.
Twin-engine Air Force A-10 attack jets have also been deployed, CENTCOM said.
EA-18G Electronic Attack Aircraft: Based on the F/A-18 fighter, the EA-18G Growler carries jamming pods, communication countermeasures and radars to identify and suppress enemy electronic threats. The twin-engine jets can also be armed with missiles that home in on electronic transmissions like radars and communications centers.
Airborne Early Warning and Control Aircraft (AWACS): The US employs two types of AWACS, the Air Force E-3 Sentry and the Navy E-2 Hawkeye.
The Air Force AWACS are four-engine craft based on the Boeing 707 airline platform. The jets carry a large circular rotating radar dome on struts 11 feet above their fuselage. With a range of around 250 miles, the AWACS can identify and track enemy aircraft and ships and monitor detailed battlefield information of US forces. The information is shared with command centers and ships at sea.
The Navy Hawkeye, a twin-engine turboprop, provides similar information while operating off US aircraft carriers.
Airborne Communication Relay aircraft: CENTCOM did not give specifics, but Air Force EA-11 BACN (battlefield airborne communications node) aircraft were seen in the Middle East in the weeks leading up to the strikes.
Manufacturer Bombardier says the EA-11, based on a twin-engine business jet, is often called the “Wi-Fi in the Sky” and used “to bridge voice and tactical data between air and land forces, while surmounting obstacles such as mountains, rough terrain or distance.”
P-8A Maritime Patrol Aircraft: Based on a commercial Boeing 737 airframe, the twin-engine Navy jets, named Poseidon, are used for anti-submarine warfare as well as intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
RC-135 Reconnaissance Aircraft: Carrying a crew of more than 30 people, including electronic warfare officers, intelligence operators and even in-flight maintenance technicians, the RC-135 has been a constant in US military operations since the Vietnam War.
The four-engine jets, based on a Boeing 707 commercial airframe, provide near real time intelligence gathering and analysis, according to an Air Force fact sheet.
MQ-9 Reapers: The Air Force describes the remotely piloted, single-engine turboprop MQ-9 drones as primarily an attack aircraft to engage “high-value, fleeting and time-sensitive targets.” They carry Hellfire missiles and guided bombs that can be used against enemy armor or personnel and loiter over the battlespace for reconnaissance and intelligence.
M-142 HIMARS: The Army’s High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems are mounted on a three-axle truck and provide what manufacturer Lockheed Martin says is a “shoot-and-scoot” capability, meaning they can fire and quickly move to a new position before facing a counterstrike.
HIMARS can carry rockets with a range of more than 300 miles depending on the mission needed. CENTCOM has released video of HIMARS firing single munitions since the beginning of the war with Iran.
Refueling assets: These include both airborne tankers and supply ships at sea.
The US Air Force flies two types of tankers, the four-engine KC-135, based on a Boeing 707 airframe, and the twin-engine KC-46, based on the Boeing 767. In-flight refueling would be critical for the B-2 bombers making the long flight to the Middle East from the US mainland. But aircraft in the region can be refueled mid-flight to stay near the battlefield longer.
US warships refuel at sea from supply ships operated by mainly civilian crews. The refueling takes place while the ships are underway with hoses shot across the water from the supply ships to the warships, a bit like a moving gas station in the middle of the ocean.
Cargo aircraft: C-17 Globemaster jets and C-130 Hercules turboprops brought much of the munitions and many of the troops employed in the attack on Iran to the Middle East.
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