3,000 strikes, 43 ships hit: US operations against Iran by the numbers

WASHINGTON — It’s been just under a week since US President Donald gave the go-ahead for massive military strikes against Iran to commence, saying “Operation Epic Fury is approved. No aborts. Good luck.”

Over the last few days, the US and Israel militaries have collaborated while also proceeding with their respective operations inside Iran that included killing Ali Khamenei, the country’s supreme leader.

For the US, that first meant relying on cyber and space operations to degrade “Iran’s ability to see, communicate and respond,” Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine told reporters earlier this week. US forces then began striking targets at a distance before moving to stand-in precision weapons like Joint Direct Attack Munitions — a GPS guidance kit for dumb bombs in the 500-lbs, 1,000-lbs and 2,000-lbs classes — and Hellfire missiles.

“In just the last hour, two [US] bombers dropped dozens of 2,000-pound penetrator bombs targeting deeply buried ballistic missile launchers,” Central Command head Adm. Bradley Cooper told reporters late Thursday afternoon. 

“The President gave us another task, to raze or level Iran’s ballistic missile industrial base, so we’re not just hitting what they have or destroying their ability to rebuild,” he added. “As we transition to the next phase of this operation, we will systematically dismantle Iran’s missile production capability for the future, and that’s absolutely in progress.”

For his part, Trump has said the military operations could last for weeks. For now, here’s a brief look at some key numbers from the American operation, provided by the Pentagon or US Central Command: