One of the most powerful aircraft carrier strike group of the United States launched more than 450 Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles during operations against Iran. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth revealed these details as he boarded the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln at sea on October 8, one day prior to the ship returning to its home port of San Diego.The carrier is due to return to San Diego after a 321-day deployment that included a record 264 consecutive days at sea without a port call.Strike group’s achievements over the six monthsHegseth also recounted all of the strike group’s achievements over the six months: conducting 3,693 combat sorties, delivering 1.37 million pounds of ordnance, launching 450 Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles, shooting down 77 one-way unmanned attack drones, sinking 64 Iranian warships, destroying 21 anti-ship cruise missiles and defending against four fast-attack craft and explosive-carrying wooden sailing vessels.
The secretary spent most of his nearly 15 minutes of remarks praising the Lincoln’s crew and its attached Carrier Air Wing 9 for the successes the ship’s strike group achieved off the coast of Iran as part of Operation Epic Fury from February through August. Those operations consisted of 40 straight days of combat operations beginning February 28, followed by participation in an ongoing, monthslong blockade of Iran in and around the Strait of Hormuz, according to a press release.“Here we are this morning — on this beautiful morning — we came here intentionally to recognize, to honor [and] to showcase.
… [President Donald J. Trump] wanted me to personally thank you, each and every one of you, from the Oval Office for what you have done here, for what you did in Epic Fury, ensuring that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon. … And then the follow-on blockade, which has been impenetrable from day one,” Hegseth told the crew.Carrier’s record-setting 321-day deploymentThe secretary’s visit came at the end of Lincoln’s record-setting 321-day deployment, during which the ship spent 264 consecutive days at sea without a port call.
This deployment surpasses the previous record of 206 consecutive days set by the carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in 2020. “We landed on the most beautiful of days, in the middle of an empty flight deck because [the air wing] is gone, and [you were] landing in the middle of the night in dangerous territory with a full flight deck during combat operations, and you didn’t miss a beat.
That’s why we’re here; the world needs to understand that, [and] the country needs to understand that,” added Hegseth. In recognition of the Lincoln strike group’s successes in prosecuting Operation Epic Fury for more than five months in the Middle East, Hegseth presented the crew with the Presidential Unit Citation — the highest military decoration that can be awarded to units for extraordinary heroism in action against an armed enemy, as per the release.
