00:02I'm Admiral Brad Cooper here at United States Central Command, where I'm leading the forces
00:06executing Operation Epic Fury.
00:08First, I want you to know that we continue to keep the families of our fallen heroes
00:12and our wounded teammates in our thoughts and prayers.
00:16I'd also like to acknowledge and thank the families of the 50,000 American servicemen
00:20and women deployed in and around the Middle East.
00:23I'm grateful for your selfless sacrifice, and I know that Americans across the country
00:27hold you in their hearts.
00:30Let me start by offering my overall assessment of Operation Epic Fury.
00:33In short, U.S. forces continue delivering devastating combat power against the Iranian regime.
00:39I've said this before, but it bears repeating.
00:41U.S. combat power is building, Iranian combat power is declining.
00:46And we remain centered on very clear military objectives in eliminating Iran's ability
00:51to project power against Americans and against its neighbors.
00:54Every day, we're striking hard at Iranian ballistic missiles and drones.
01:00To date, we have struck more than 5,500 targets inside Iran, including more than 60 ships using
01:06a variety of precision weapon systems.
01:09Just yesterday, we had strike waves nearly every hour from different locations and directions
01:14going into Iran.
01:15We also took out the last of four Soleimani-class warships.
01:19That's an entire class of Iranian ships now out of the fight.
01:22I'd characterize our strikes as being unpredictable, dynamic, and decisive.
01:28Since the first 24 hours of this campaign, Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks have
01:33dropped drastically.
01:35But it's worth pointing out that Iranian forces continue to deliberately target innocent civilians
01:40in Gulf countries while hiding behind their own people as they launch attacks from highly
01:45populated cities in Iran.
01:47Of course, forces executing Operation Effort Curie aren't just defending against Iranian threats.
01:53We are methodically dismantling them by hitting Iranian missiles and drones as we also strike
01:59their defense industrial base.
02:00Just last night, our bomber force hit a large ballistic missile manufacturing facility as an example.
02:06So it's not just about what's shooting at us today.
02:08It's also about eliminating the threat in the future.
02:12Now, let me show you a few of the results from the tremendous efforts by America's Joint Force.
02:17Here, you see an Iranian Jamaran-class warship, a large patrol ship, a drone smuggling vessel,
02:23and four other surface combatants docked at Chabahar Port in the Gulf of Oman,
02:27the day before we launched Operation Epic Fury.
02:31Here's the same pier four days later, all ships taken out of action.
02:35This Bayandar-class surface ship was hit and rolled on its side.
02:39Here's another example.
02:41Here, you see two Iranian surface combatants docked at an Iranian naval base near the Strait of Hormuz,
02:46just hours into the campaign.
02:48And here's what they looked like three days later, engulfed in flames after we struck them with a precision weapon.
02:54For years, the Iranian regime has threatened commercial shipping in U.S. forces and international waters.
03:01Our mission is to end their ability to project power and harass shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
03:06From the air, we've achieved a concentration of air power with back-to-back waves of advanced fighters
03:11creating constant pressure on the enemy every single day.
03:15Our dominance is not a solo effort.
03:17It's a testament to the strength of our ironclad alliances.
03:20We continue to coordinate closely and effectively with Israel in this very large operation.
03:25And we are also coordinating and serving side-by-side with all of our partners in the Middle East.
03:31We're on a path to eliminating Iran's ability to threaten Americans and our friends,
03:36and we are achieving this through a combination of lethality, precision, and rapid innovation.
03:40Let me highlight a few examples, at least the ones that aren't classified,
03:44of how we are achieving lethal effects in entirely new ways.
03:49First, our warfighters are leveraging a variety of advanced AI tools.
03:53These systems help us sift through vast amounts of data in seconds,
03:57so our leaders can cut through the noise and make smarter decisions faster than the enemy can react.
04:03Humans will always make final decisions on what to shoot and what not to shoot,
04:07and when to shoot.
04:09But advanced AI tools can turn processes that used to take hours and sometimes even days into seconds.
04:16I continue to be impressed with all the branches of the U.S. military.
04:19The entire team is performing superbly. Strike operations from our joint force continue.
04:24As I've said, I assess that we are clearly exercising air superiority over vast swaths of Iran.
04:31We have the most integrated air defense umbrella in the Middle East,
04:34and our defensive operations from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Space Force teams
04:40are performing magnificently.
04:43A note about the Space Force.
04:45Our space superiority has been a critical enabler to this fight.
04:49Unseen by the world, the Space Force is doing two things.
04:52First, they're degrading Iranian capability.
04:54And second, they're helping to protect American forces.
04:57And I'll have to leave it right there.
04:59All told, despite this incredible progress, make no mistake, we remain highly vigilant.
05:04And I just could not be prouder of our Operation Epic Fury team,
05:08and I know the American people shared that same pride.
05:11To all our warriors out there, please keep up the great work and Godspeed.
05:14Thanks so much.
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