Iran missile attacks down 90 per cent, says Pentagon

Washington, March 10 : The United States said Tuesday that Iranian missile and drone capabilities have been significantly degraded during the first 10 days of 'Operation Epic Fury', with ballistic missile attacks dropping sharply as American strikes intensify.

Speaking at the Pentagon, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Dan Caine said the campaign was steadily dismantling Iran’s ability to strike US forces and partners across the region.

“Ballistic missile attacks continue to trend downward, 90 per cent from where they started,” Caine said. “And one way attack drones have decreased 83 per cent since the beginning of the operation, a testament to our air defenders and our air defence systems.”

Caine said US forces and regional partners had struck thousands of targets since the campaign began.

“To date, they’ve struck more than 5000 targets,” he said, adding that US Strategic Command bombers had recently dropped “dozens of 2,000-pound GPS penetrating weapons on deeply buried missile launchers across the southern flank.”

The Pentagon said the operation remains focused on three core objectives: degrading Iran’s missile and drone capabilities, targeting its navy, and striking deeper into its military-industrial infrastructure.

Caine said the first objective was aimed at preventing attacks against American forces and partners.

“This means attacking launch sites, command and control nodes, and stockpiles before they can threaten our personnel, our facilities, and our partners,” he said.

The second objective is to weaken Iran’s naval forces in the Gulf.

“In the first 10 days of the conflict, we’re more than 50 Iranian naval ships into the campaign using a combination of artillery, fighters, bombers, and sea-launched missiles,” Caine said.

He noted that US forces had also struck and sunk an Iranian drone carrier ship and were continuing operations against mine-laying vessels and mine storage facilities.

The third objective targets Iran’s broader military and industrial network.

“We’ve begun to target Iran’s military and industrial complex, again focusing on centers of gravity to get upstream of the shooters out in the field,” Caine said.

Hegseth said the campaign was being executed with overwhelming force.

“We’re crushing the enemy in an overwhelming display of technical skill and military force,” he said. “We will not relent until the enemy is totally and decisively defeated.”

The Defence Secretary also said the next phase of the operation would bring an even heavier wave of strikes.

“For example, today will be yet again our most intense day of strikes inside Iran. The most fighters, the most bombers, the most strikes,” Hegseth said.

At the same time, he insisted the campaign would remain limited in scope.

“This is not endless. It’s not protracted. We’re not allowing mission creep,” he said. “The President has said a very specific mission to accomplish.”

Hegseth said the goal remained preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons and neutralizing its ability to threaten US forces.

“Three objectives — destroy their missile stockpiles, destroy their Navy, and permanently deny Iran nuclear weapons forever,” he said.