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 ships 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 its 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.
Saw this on BBC and guess who’s side BBC is on ,D’oh
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.
I think it’s time we cut off Iran’s ability to purchase Evinrude Outboard Motors so as to cripple their Navy.
Wish there was video or picture of Iran drone in water?
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.
Someone set us up the bomb.
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.
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 Trumps 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.
MORE DETAILS TO FOLLOW
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
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
“Evinrude Outboard Motors”
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.
My Dad was Chief Engineering Officer/Executive Officer on the Boxer [LPH-4]. He also briefly commanded it.
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