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Top U.S. generals say the U.S. military used ATACMS to sink an Iranian warship during Operation Epic Fury.
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General Dan Cain declared that U.S. artillery had rendered the Iranian navy ineffective.
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ATACMS provides ground forces with a powerful strike force.
U.S. forces involved in Operation Epic Fury used ballistic missile systems to sink Iranian warships, including a submarine, top U.S. generals revealed on Friday, providing some insight into the targets U.S. artillery is engaging in in the war.
Artillery and Marines are “sinking ships, destroying warehouses, launching Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS)” and “Precision Strike Missiles (PrSM),” Gen. Dan Cain, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at a news conference Friday.
“From outside Iran’s borders, our Army and Marine Corps artillery are attacking sites that Iran relies on to project power beyond its borders,” he said.
“In the first 13 days of this operation, our artillery made history,” Kane said.
“They launched the first precision strike missiles used in combat deep into enemy territory,” he said. “They used Army ATACMS to sink multiple ships, including a submarine.”
The US military is “continuing to destroy the Iranian navy to ensure freedom of navigation.” He said the U.S. military was targeting mine-laying vessels and the ability to target commercial vessels.
“In less than two weeks, we neutralized the Iranian Navy and continued to attack naval vessels, including all Soleimani-class warships equipped with anti-ship missiles and anti-aircraft weapons,” Kaine said.
Other naval targets sunk include Iran’s new purpose-built drone carrier.
Army tactical missile systems are typically used to target land-based targets such as enemy air defense systems and logistics centers.
Each missile costs up to $1 million, depending on the range and type of warhead. ATACMS missiles can hit targets up to about 200 miles away and are launched using the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System or the M240 Multiple Launch Rocket System launcher. HIMARS can also launch PrSM and short-range guided rockets.
ATACMS, built by Lockheed Martin, is guided by GPS and inertial navigation to track its flight to a designated target, so it cannot be used for precision fire on moving targets. Therefore, it is likely that the destroyed vessel was moored at a dock or mooring.
ATACMS enhances the strike power of Army and Marine Corps artillery, allowing ground force commanders to hit critical targets without relying on Air or Navy units. The system was designed during the Cold War and was first used in combat during the 1991 Gulf War.
Ukraine also uses limited anti-tank missiles provided by the United States to attack Russian military installations. Due to a shortage of these weapons, Ukraine has since developed its own domestic capabilities.
Kaine said Friday that U.S. forces have struck more than 6,000 targets in Iran. As the United States and Israel establish air superiority over Iran, allowing bombers and fighter jets to fly overhead, they have turned to munitions such as gravity bombs, which are much cheaper to produce and for which the U.S. arsenal is more plentiful than missiles.
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