The United States has assembled one of its largest recent military deployments around the Strait of Hormuz in support of US President Donald Trump's Operation 'Project Freedom', US Central Command chief Admiral Brad Cooper confirmed on Monday.
The deployment includes over 100 aircraft, two carrier strike groups, guided missile destroyers, Apache attack helicopters, Seahawk helicopters, and 15,000 service members.
"We are employing US ballistic-missile defense capable destroyers, over 100 land and sea-based aircraft, multi-domain unmanned platforms — meaning under the sea, on the sea and from the air — and 15,000 service members to extend this defensive umbrella across the Strait of Hormuz," Cooper said, laying out the full scope of the operation for the first time.
The sheer firepower on display seems like a catalogue of the US military's most advanced assets: A-10s, F-15s, F-16s, F-18s, F-35s, EA-18 Growlers, RC-135s, KC-46s and KC-135s — in addition to the Apache and Seahawk helicopters that were, reportedly, used Monday morning to eliminate six Iranian small boats that threatened commercial shipping.
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"My operational assessment overall is that the US military has the clear advantage," Cooper stated.The operation has two distinct missions running simultaneously, the Admiral said.
— First, a total naval blockade of Iranian ports in the Gulf of Oman — which Cooper said has been "100% effective."
— Second, the opening of a commercial shipping corridor through the Strait itself, described as primarily a one-way exit route for now.
"The most important thing is getting ships out in the near term," he said, adding vessels from 87 countries are currently stranded in the Arabian Gulf as a result of Iran's closure of the strait in March.
Meanwhile, Iran hit back hard on Monday, launching cruise missiles, drones, and small boat swarms at both US Navy ships and commercial vessels. Cooper confirmed every single threat was defeated.
"We have defeated each and every one of those threats through the clinical application of defensive munitions," he said, adding that no US warship or US-flagged commercial vessel was struck.
Pushing back on comparisons to traditional naval escorts, Cooper was emphatic that 'Project Freedom' offers far greater protection. "If you're escorting a ship, you're playing a kind of one-on-one. We have a much broader defensive package — ships, helicopters, aircraft, airborne early warning and electronic warfare."
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