00:00Good afternoon. I'm Admiral Brad Cooper, the Commander of the United States Central Command.
00:05In this capacity, I lead U.S. military forces in the Middle East.
00:09I'm here to provide you an update on Operation Epic Fury, now on our fourth day of execution.
00:14First, I'd like to express my deepest condolences to the families and teammates of the extraordinary Americans who've been killed
00:21in action.
00:22And I'd also like to extend our prayers for a speedy recovery to the wounded.
00:26Yesterday, you heard from Secretary Higsteth and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs.
00:30Today, I'd like to give you an operational update on where we are and provide you with some key facts.
00:36By order of the President of the United States and the Secretary of War,
00:40our military in the Middle East is undertaking an unprecedented operation
00:43to eliminate Iran's ability to threaten Americans, as they've been doing for nearly half a century.
00:49Having spent more than 36 years in the military,
00:52I could not be prouder of America's sons and daughters in uniform who are answering the call.
00:57More than 50,000 troops, 200 fighters, two aircraft carriers,
01:02and bombers from the United States are participating in this operation,
01:05and more capability is on the way.
01:07These forces bring a massive amount of firepower,
01:11representing the largest buildup by the U.S. in the Middle East in a generation.
01:15In the opening hours of Operation Epic Fury,
01:18U.S. Central Command Forces, together with Israel,
01:21delivered overwhelming and unprecedented strikes into Iran.
01:24Many of you may remember the shock and awe strikes of 2003.
01:28The first 24 hours of this operation were nearly double the scale,
01:32and we continue with 24-7 strikes into Iran from seabed to space and cyberspace.
01:38Now, we're less than 100 hours into this operation,
01:41and we've already struck nearly 2,000 targets with more than 2,000 munitions.
01:46We have severely degraded Iran's air defenses
01:50and destroyed hundreds of Iran's ballistic missiles, launchers, and drones.
01:54And in simple terms, we're focused on shooting all the things that can shoot at us.
01:59Our B-2 bombers and B-1 bombers have executed uncontested surgical strikes
02:03against multiple missile facilities deep inside Iran.
02:06And then just last night, a B-52 bomber force
02:09struck ballistic missile in command and control posts.
02:12We are also sinking the Iranian Navy, the entire Navy.
02:17Thus far, we've destroyed 17 Iranian ships,
02:20including the most operational Iranian submarine that now has a hole in its side.
02:24For decades, the Iranian regime has harassed international shipping.
02:28Today, there's not a single Iranian ship underway in the Arabian Gulf,
02:33Strait of Hormuz, or Gulf of Oman.
02:35And we will not stop.
02:37We will continue to conduct dynamic targeting operations.
02:40We're hunting Iran's last remaining mobile ballistic missile launchers
02:43to eliminate what I would characterize as their lingering launch capability.
02:48Now, in retaliation, the Iranian regime has launched over 500 ballistic missiles
02:53and over 2,000 drones.
02:54To be clear, Iran is indiscriminately targeting civilians
02:58as they launch these missiles and drones.
03:00You've seen it on TV.
03:02The evidence is crystal clear and overwhelming.
03:05Having said this, we are seeing Iran's ability to hit us and our partners is declining,
03:10while our combat power, on the other hand, is building.
03:13And my overall operational assessment is that we are ahead of our game plan.
03:17Along the way, every single branch of our military is achieving unprecedented success.
03:22I'll talk about just a few of them.
03:23Our naval forces have deployed multiple waves of cruise missiles,
03:28obliterating Iranian command and control and air defense capabilities.
03:32From two aircraft carrier strike groups, we're squeezing Iran from the sea
03:36and have them backed into their own ports.
03:38U.S. air forces are doing what they do best,
03:41executing a high volume of air strikes right into Iran.
03:45Operationally, the two most powerful air forces in the world,
03:48the U.S. and Israel, are dominating the skies
03:51over the world's largest state sponsor of terror.
03:54Our U.S. Army soldiers are defending ourselves and our partners,
03:57and in a historic first, the U.S. Army fired long-range precision strike missiles
04:02called PRISMS in combat, providing an unrivaled deep strike capability.
04:07Also for the first time, U.S. Central Command's drone task force
04:10called Task Force Scorpion Strike launched countless one-way attack drones,
04:15achieving massive effects.
04:16I'd like to point out these drones were originally an Iranian design.
04:20We took them back to America, made them better,
04:23and fired them right back at Iran.
04:25I just could not be prouder of our men and women in uniform,
04:29leveraging innovation to create dilemmas for the enemy.
04:32There is no adversary too determined,
04:34no mission too difficult for the great soldiers, sailors, airmen,
04:38Marines, guardians, and Coast Guardsmen
04:40that make up the most powerful military the world has ever seen.
04:43Our military objectives are crystal clear,
04:46and our people are executing an immensely complex and historic mission
04:50with relentless lethality, conviction, and professionalism.
04:54And we've just begun.
04:55But I have the utmost confidence that we, alongside our partners,
04:59will absolutely achieve our military objectives.
05:02To all our warriors, Godspeed.
05:04Thanks so much.
05:05Thank you.
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