Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

USS Boxer Downs Iranian Drone in ‘Defensive Action’
USNI News ^ | July 19, 2019 6:29 AM | Sam LaGrone

Posted on 07/19/2019 8:16:21 AM PDT by robowombat

USS Boxer Downs Iranian Drone in ‘Defensive Action’

By: Sam LaGrone July 18, 2019 4:00 PM • Updated: July 19, 2019 6:29 AM

This post has been updated with additional details on the downing of the Iranian drone.

Amphibious warship USS Boxer (LHD-4) took down an Iranian drone that U.S. officials say threatened the ship as it entered the Persian Gulf on Thursday.

At about 10 a.m. local time, Boxer was transiting Strait of Hormuz when an Iranian fixed-wing drone approached the ship, a defense official told USNI News.

“A fixed-wing unmanned aerial system (UAS) approached Boxer and closed within a threatening range. The ship took defensive action against the UAS to ensure the safety of the ship and its crew,” a Pentagon spokesman said in a Thursday afternoon statement provided to USNI News.

The statement did not detail the method in which Boxer downed the drone. The ship is armed with RIM-7 Sea Sparrow short-range anti-ship missiles, and the RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) and Phalanx CIWS point defense weapons systems. Additionally, the Navy and the Marine Corps have begun to field a wide variety of non-kinetic systems capable of downing a drone by other means.

Photographs released by the Navy in January, show Marines operating the MRZR-mounted, anti-UAS Marine Air Defense Integrated System on the deck of Kearsarge as part of the ship’s force protection regime as it transited the Suez Canal. USNI News understands the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit aboard Boxer also deployed with the system and that it’s the likely weapon that was used to splash the Iranian drone.

U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Fernando Anzaldua III, an assistant gunner, and Cpl. Jordan Gillett, a gunner with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit provide security to their light marine air defense integrated system aboard the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge (LHD-3) as it passes the Mubarak Peace Bridge in the Suez Canal. US Marine Corps Photo

Military.com reported that MADIS was used in the engagement. In March, USNI News reported that the Marines were experimenting with the capability before developing a version to deploy with Marine JLTVs.

“The MADIS system connects mature radars, passive detection sensors, optics and jammers – and soon a kinetic kill option will be integrated in, likely a small drone that could shoot down another small drone,” reported USNI News.

News of the intercept first came from a press event at the White House in which President Donald Trump told reporters of the downing of the Iranian drone.

“This is the latest of many provocative and hostile actions against vessels operating in international waters,” Trump told reporters in the White House on Thursday afternoon.

The downing of the Iranian drone comes as the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy announced they had seized a UAE-owned, Panamanian-flagged tanker and follows reports of Iranian harassment of a British owned tanker last week.

U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Fernando Anzaldua III, an assistant gunner, and Cpl. Jordan Gillett, a gunner with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, complete system checks on their light marine air defense integrated system aboard USS Kearsarge (LHD-3) as it transits the Suez Canal. US Marine Corps Photo

Boxer has been operating in U.S. Central Command since mid-June with the 11th MEU and two other amphibious warships.

The ARG includes Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Boxer (LHD-4), San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock USS John P. Murtha (LPD-26) and Harpers Ferry-class dock landing ship USS Harpers Ferry (LSD-49).

The ARG left San Diego, Calif., on May 1 on a scheduled deployment. In addition to Boxer, the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group has been patrolling in the Gulf of Oman and the North Arabian Sea since mid-May.

The presence of large fixed-wing Iranian drones near the Persian Gulf is not new, with carriers and other U.S. warships rotating through the region having interactions with them in recent years. However, the drones typically keep their distance, making sure the U.S. ships see them but not coming close enough to where ships have had to shoot them down.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: didyousearch; djibouti; drones; eritrea; hassannasrallah; hezbollah; iran; lebanon; maritime; mullahlovers; persiangulf; putinsbuttboys; sudan; trumpmiddleeast; usnavy; ussboxer; yemen
Tit for tat, a drone for a drone?
1 posted on 07/19/2019 8:16:21 AM PDT by robowombat
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: robowombat

Saw this on BBC and guess who’s side BBC is on ,D’oh


2 posted on 07/19/2019 8:17:59 AM PDT by butlerweave
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: robowombat

No, that was not a consideration.

First there were speed boats. Then there was a small helicopter thaat flew very very close and was chased away by an American helicopter. Then there was a drone. It got too close and was shot down.

The American drone incident was not cause for shooting down the Iranian drone.

To equate the two is to not understand what happened

A Reporter on board recorded all the events that transpired and published a very informative article.


3 posted on 07/19/2019 8:23:08 AM PDT by bert ( (KE. NP. N.C. +12)There were Democrat espionage operations on Republican candidates)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: robowombat

I think it’s time we cut off Iran’s ability to purchase Evinrude Outboard Motors so as to cripple their Navy.


4 posted on 07/19/2019 8:28:56 AM PDT by vette6387
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: vette6387

Wish there was video or picture of Iran drone in water?


5 posted on 07/19/2019 8:30:44 AM PDT by mplc51
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: robowombat

As I understand it the Iranians refuse to admit they had a drone shot down. Well, in that case let’s shoot down every one we can and let them keep denying it.


6 posted on 07/19/2019 8:31:56 AM PDT by V_TWIN
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: robowombat

Someone set us up the bomb.


7 posted on 07/19/2019 8:31:58 AM PDT by AAABEST (NY/DC/LA media/political industrial complex DELENDA EST)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: robowombat
My Dad served on the OLD USS Boxer aircraft carrier in Korea AND used to go on business trips to Iran before the Ayatollahs took over.



He would have been happy to see this.
8 posted on 07/19/2019 8:45:24 AM PDT by \/\/ayne (I regret that I have but one subscription cancellation notice to give to my local newspaper.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: robowombat

I saw the name of the ship and immediately got sick wondering if it was named for that nutty Kalifornia Senator. Thankfully, it’s named after a ship the the US Navy captured from the Brits in the War of 1812.


9 posted on 07/19/2019 8:46:26 AM PDT by NohSpinZone (First thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: butlerweave

Yes here it is right from Qom:

Iran Releases IRGC Video Allegedly Proving US Lied About Downing of Iranian Drone
MIDDLE EAST

18:39 19.07.2019(updated 18:42 19.07.2019) Get short URL 0 62
Earlier, Tehran denied Donald Trump’s statements claiming that a US ship in the Strait of Hormuz had downed an Iranian drone that allegedly flew too close to the vessel, something which Washington characterised as a “defensive action”.

https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201907191076299035-iran-releases-irgc-video-allegedly-proving-us-lied-about-downing-of-iranian-drone/?utm_source=push&utm_medium=browser_notification&utm_campaign=sputnik_inter_en

MORE DETAILS TO FOLLOW


10 posted on 07/19/2019 8:48:06 AM PDT by robowombat (Orthodox)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: robowombat

Not shot down - jammed and crashed. The Crotch has mobile jammers (MRZR-mounted, anti-UAS Marine Air Defense Integrated System) - the 21st Century Marines are here

11 posted on 07/19/2019 9:04:06 AM PDT by ASOC (Having humility really means one is rarely humiliated)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: robowombat

This might be the latest update:

“U.S. Marines Jam an Iranian Drone in the Gulf, Destroying It”

The U.S. “took defensive action” against a drone that had “closed into a very, very near distance,” Trump said.

Note the very end of the article:
CORRECTION (July 18, 2019, 7:11 p.m. ET): An earlier version of this article misstated the action taken by the U.S. military to bring down an Iranian drone in the Gulf. The drone was jammed; it was not shot down.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/trump-says-u-s-navy-ship-shot-down-iranian-drone-n1031451


12 posted on 07/19/2019 9:10:48 AM PDT by toldyou (Even if the voices aren't real, they have some pretty good ideas.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: vette6387

“Evinrude Outboard Motors”

Most are Volvos that they are buying out of Canada. That needs to stop.


13 posted on 07/19/2019 9:11:38 AM PDT by gandalftb
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: gandalftb
“Most are Volvos that they are buying out of Canada. That needs to stop.”

Yes! Canada is another $hit hole country that has had a free ride off of the American Economy for far too long, plus they have a little French fag as their Prime Minister.

14 posted on 07/19/2019 9:22:23 AM PDT by vette6387
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: \/\/ayne

My Dad was Chief Engineering Officer/Executive Officer on the Boxer [LPH-4]. He also briefly commanded it.


15 posted on 07/19/2019 10:00:43 AM PDT by Lmo56 (If ya wanna run with the big dawgs - ya gotta learn to piss in the tall grass ...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson