U.S. Navy destroyers currently in the eastern Mediterranean Sea fired about a dozen interceptors at Iranian missiles launched against Israel on Tuesday, said Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman.
The destroyers USS Cole and USS USS Bulkeley were involved in the effort, Ryder told reporters at a Pentagon news conference. Ryder did not specify how many missiles the interceptors hit.
“They fired the interceptors,” Ryder told reporters. “We’re still assessing outcomes of that. I just don’t have more information to provide at this time.”
Iran launched an estimated 200 ballistic missiles against Israel on Tuesday shortly after the Israel Defense Forces launched a ground incursion into southern Lebanon.
Washington Post reporter Dan Lamothe posted on X on Tuesday that U.S. destroyers in the Mediterranean Sea had downed some of those missiles.
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Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin recently ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group to remain in the eastern Mediterranean Sea along with USS Wasp Amphibious Ready Group and the embarked 24th Marine Expeditionary Group.
Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters on Monday that the U.S. military was also deploying “an additional few thousand” U.S. troops in fighter aircraft units to the Middle East.
Hours before Iran’s missile attack against Israel, U.S. Central Command posted on X that an F-15E, F-16, and A-10 squadron were on their way to the region “with one squadron having already arrived.”
Tuesday marked the second time this year that Iran launched a direct attack against Israel. In April, the U.S. Army, Navy, and Air Force all helped shoot down Iranian ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones that had been launched against Israel.
At the time, the Arleigh Burke and the destroyer USS Carney shot down between four and six ballistic missiles.
This is a developing story. It will be updated as more information becomes available.