Here come the big bombs as US escalates strikes on Iran’s huge military arsenal

“Our stockpiles of defensive and offensive weapons allow us to sustain this campaign as long as we need to,” Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said at U.S. Central Command headquarters on Thursday.

From a tactical perspective, the scale of the airstrikes unleashed in Operation Epic Fury indicates that the U.S. almost waited too long. Starting the campaign to take out Iran’s ballistic missiles and drones required strikes on almost 2,000 aimpoints in just the first few days. That’s one munition per aimpoint, and there could be thousands more to go.

It was now or never. Iran planned to stockpile missiles and drones and build a handful of nuclear weapons that no military force could reach. “Iranian negotiators said to us directly, with no shame, that they controlled 460 kilograms of 60% and they’re aware that that could make 11 nuclear bombs,” U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said Tuesday. 

The terrifying scale of Iran’s target set went unnoticed by most of the world until last Saturday.

Imagine how difficult this job would have been in a few years — especially with Russia and China helping Iran restock.

“This operation needed to happen because Iran, in about a year or a year and a half, would cross the line of immunity, meaning they would have so many short-range missiles, so many drones that no one could do anything about it because they could hold the whole world hostage,” Rubio said on Capitol Hill on Monday. “Look at the damage they’re doing now. And this is a weakened Iran … imagine a year from now,” he added.

With Iran’s command and control degraded and air defenses flattened, the southern air ingress approaches to the country are wide open. “And now, with complete control of the skies, we will be using 500-pound, 1,000-pound and 2,000-pound GPS–and laser-guided precision gravity bombs, of which we have a nearly unlimited stockpile,” Hegseth said at the Pentagon on Wednesday.

Here come the big bombs to take on hundreds of targets. Those targets include factories, weapons storage sites and every IRGC facility U.S. forces can find. And it’s all happening while a 2,000-mile arc of aerial defense continues.

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The U.S. is not running out of bombs for Operation Epic Fury. Here are seven systems seeing heavy action:

Joint Direct Attack Munition: JDAMs use GPS satellite guidance to hit precise coordinates. The combat-proven JDAM family of munitions is actually a kit. You take a Mk 82 500-pound free-fall gravity bomb, a Mk 83 1,000-pound bomb body or a Mk 84 2,000-pound bomb body, then attach a precision seeker and a tail kit with steering fins just before missions. Military munitions specialists — sometimes called AMMO troops — build the bombs before loading them onto the aircraft. In the Navy, for example, you can spot ordnance loaders on an aircraft carrier deck by their red jerseys. In 2003, U.S. fighter and bomber crews dropped 5,086 of the 2,000-pound GBU-31 JDAMs in Operation Iraqi Freedom. So yes, planners knew to stock up. A new wing kit doubled the range for the JDAM Extended Range variant. JDAMs can attack “off-axis,” meaning behind or to the side of the fighter or bomber.

GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb: Combining precision with powerful explosives, the Small Diameter Bomb weighs 250 pounds and has a remarkable 40-nautical-mile range when launched, along with the ability to strike moving vehicles. The bomb body is advanced, with a more powerful but compact explosive that limits collateral damage. Aircrews can change coordinates in flight for this GPS-guided munition. F-22 Raptors can drop SDBs while flying supersonic.

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Patriot and THAAD: U.S. forces are leading the defense against missile and drone threats. Patriot remains the gold standard for terminal-phase intercepts, and Hegseth noted inventories were in good shape. THAAD — Terminal High Altitude Area Defense — is also widely used.

Air-to-air missiles: For drones, there are many options, starting with fighter aircraft armed with AMRAAMs (Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles) and AIM-9 Sidewinders. Drones can be tricky to detect on radar, but recent experience in Ukraine means the U.S. has fresh identifying characteristics to work with. Once in range, the slow, hot, whirring pusher engine of Iran’s Shahed drones is not difficult to target. However, Hegseth noted counter-UAS systems have been pushed forward. You knew American technology was the foundation of Ukraine’s superb air defenses, right?  

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VAMPIRE and Coyote: The VAMPIRE counter-drone system’s name says it all: Vehicle-Agnostic Modular Palletized ISR Rocket Equipment. That means it can go on almost any truck and fire different missiles. The Navy rushed it to Ukraine in 2023, and since then, “VAMPIRE users have successfully shot down hundreds of enemy drones,” according to manufacturer L3Harris. Other examples include Coyote, a small drone that can launch from a sonobuoy to destroy hostile drones or loiter to disable them with electronic jamming in its “non-kinetic” variant. Both have been tested against drone swarms.

To be sure, some Standard Missile-3 Block 1A and Block 2B variants have been heavily taxed. U.S. Navy Aegis destroyers launch SM-3s for exo-atmospheric, midcourse hit-to-kill shots against Iranian ballistic missiles. 

On Feb. 4, the Pentagon anticipated the need and announced Tomahawk production would be boosted to 1,000 per year, AMRAAMs to at least 1,900, and SM-6 missiles to more than 500 annually, with SM-3 production accelerating to two to four times its classified annual rate. For obvious reasons, full munitions inventories are not public information.

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“Your joint force is steady, frosty, calm and focused,” Caine said.

And they have the weapons to carry out their missions.

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Jon Rahm arranges private jet for LIV golfers stranded in Middle East amid Iran’s counterattacks: report

Several LIV Golf players were reportedly stranded in Dubai amid attacks by Iran, but they are safe thanks to one of their own. 

Seven players and a caddie were stuck in the United Arab Emirates as Iran committed retaliatory attacks on Israel and several of its neighbors.

The Saudi-backed league is playing in Hong Kong this weekend, so those who have homes in Dubai were there before heading to China. But once the attacks began, airports closed and flights were canceled.

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LIV reportedly explored options to get its players to Hong Kong safely, but Jon Rahm took matters into his own hands, according to Golf.com.

The two-time major winner and his team arranged a charter flight through his partnership with VistaJet, a private aviation company, to fly the members from Oman to Hong Kong. LIV had planned on getting its players to London first.

“Do whatever you have to do, but get them get out of there,” Rahm reportedly told his team.

Two of the members were part of Rahm’s Legion XIII squad.

It was no easy commute, as a typical four-plus hour drive was much longer due to traffic with others also trying to get to Oman. But after leaving at around midnight local time Wednesday morning, they landed in Hong Kong nearly eight hours later.

Caleb Surratt, one of the golfers stuck in Dubai, told Golf Channel that it was “terrifying.”

“There’s a lot of relief just knowing that they’re going to see their teammates today, and they’ll be able to compete alongside of them starting tomorrow,” one source told Golf.com.

Rahm joined LIV in late 2023 in what has been rumored to be a deal worth more than $300 million. There has been some speculation that the deal was worth even double that.

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He won the Masters months before joining LIV after winning the U.S. Open in 2021 at Torrey Pines.

Sri Lanka offloads 208 crew members from second Iranian ship a day after US strike sinks frigate

Sri Lanka began offloading 208 crew members from a second Iranian vessel a day after 87 people were killed and several others were still missing following a U.S. submarine strike on an Iranian warship in the same region.

“After detailed discussions with all parties, Sri Lanka has decided to assist the Iranian vessel,” Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake told reporters at a press briefing in Colombo, Reuters reported.

Among the crew members being offloaded the ship, which is near the port of Colombo, were 53 officials, 84 cadets, 48 senior sailors and 23 sailors, Dissanayake said.

The Iranian ship, the IRIS Dena, was sunk Wednesday off Sri Lanka’s coast in the Indian Ocean. Officials there have dispatched two freezers to store 87 bodies recovered at sea. 

Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the ship was “effectively neutralized” in a Navy “fast attack” using a single Mark 48 torpedo. He added that the U.S. Navy achieved “immediate effect, sending the warship to the bottom of the sea.”

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Iran contends the ship was sunk in international waters without warning. 

“The U.S. will bitterly regret the precedent it has set,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said in a post on X.

Iran has asked Sri Lanka to assist with the repatriation of the bodies. 

Sri Lankan officials said the Dena was on its way home after taking part in a naval exercise organized by India in the Bay of Bengal from Feb. 18 to 25.

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Search and rescue operations would continue for an estimated 10 people who remain unaccounted for, they said.

Iranian women’s soccer fans show support for Trump as team appears to pivot on national anthem stance

The Iranian women’s soccer team appeared to pivot from its silent stance at the Women’s Asian Cup Thursday, singing and saluting during its national anthem before its match against Australia. 

Iranian fans voiced support for President Donald Trump in the stands amid the ongoing joint military campaign against Iran. 

Before the start of the match against Australia, the women’s team notably participated in the performance of the anthem. The women saluted as rain added to the somber moment. 

It was in stark contrast to the opening match against South Korea, when the women’s squad stood silent as Iranian head coach Marziyeh Jafari, also silent, smiled at her team. The silence was interpreted by some as an act of resistance amid the ongoing joint military strikes by the U.S. and Israel against Iran. 

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But, according to reports, the squad was “instructed” to participate in their next match. The team has remained silent on the subject since before the start of the tournament. The Women’s Asian Cup did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The night before Iran’s 4-0 loss to Australia, Iranian striker Sara Didar choked back tears as she shared the concerns of players and management for families and loved ones during the war.

“Obviously, we’re all concerned, and we’re sad at what has happened to Iran and our families in Iran,” Didar said in comments translated into English during a news conference. “I really hope for our country to have good news ahead. And I hope that my country will be strongly alive.”

Jafari and other players declined to answer questions about the war at their opening news conference Sunday. On Wednesday, moderators asked reporters to stick to soccer-related questions. 

Meanwhile, supporters of Iran voiced their support for Trump and a free Iran during Thursday’s match. Pre-Islamic Revolution flags were waving in the crowd, while others held up signs with letters spelling Trump’s name.

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In video remarks posted to Truth Social, Trump encouraged the Iranian people to take over their government once the United States and Israel finished “major combat operations” in Iran.

“The hour of your freedom is at hand. Stay sheltered. Don’t leave your home. It’s very dangerous outside,” he said, addressing the Iranian people. “This will be, probably, your only chance for generations. 

“For many years, you have asked for America’s help, but you never got it. No President was willing to do what I am willing to do tonight. Now you have a President who is giving you what you want.”