On September 5, 2026, U.S. forces struck and disabled three Iranian crude oil tankers after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) fired ballistic missiles at elements of the U.S. Navy, according to a report by U.S. Centcom.
Iranian forces fired upon an unnamed aircraft carrier and guided-missile destroyer, which evaded the Iranian missiles. No U.S. personnel were harmed, according to the statement from CENTCOM.
In response to the attack, U.S. forces targeted and disabled the M/V Downy near Kharg Island and the M/T Stark 1 near Jask. A third tanker, the unladen, Kylo also sometimes referred to as the Noxen, was also hit and completely destroyed in the Gulf of Oman.
Video is the strikes. M/V Downy (IMO:9218480)
M/V Downy is a 22 year old, 296,977 ton, Iran-flagged Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC). Downy (IMO 9218480) was struck in the stern with the intent of diabling its steering.
M/T Stark 1 IMO:9171450)
26 year old, 159,681 ton, Iran-flagged Suezmax tanker Stark I (IMO 9171450) suffered a similar hit. It’s believed both of these were disabled rather than destroyed because they were loaded. (Judging by their draft)
Kylo (IMO:9189146)
The Kylo is Comoros-flagged, and a 25 year old. The 160,573 ton Suezmax tanker was anchored to the east of the Strait of Hormuz admid other ships waiting to load. Per the video it was hit with multiple pieces of ordnance.
These tankers are apart of the Iranian shadow fleet—a fleet of ships that use concealing tactics (illegal flag and name changes) to hide, not so much what they are hauling but where it’s from.
Video taken by the crew of the Iranian general cargo ship Iran Shahed (IMO:9184691) ,which recorded the radio call of the U.S. aircraft in the minutes before the strike on the M/T Stark 1. The fighter pilot gave the crew three minutes to evacuate the stern of the ship.
“Let the message to the IRGC be clear: If you shoot at two of our ships, we will impose an even higher economic cost, taking out three of yours,” said Adm. Brad Cooper, CENTCOM commander. “We will not hesitate to defend American forces, and if necessary, destroy Iran’s limited and exposed oil fleet.”
September 1, 2026, Jordanian air defenses engaged 13 Iranian ballistic missiles that entered the country’s airspace and destroyed 10 of them. The Jordan Armed Forces said the remaining three landed in remote, unpopulated areas. Jordan reported no injuries, no deaths, and no significant damage to property.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said the barrage was aimed at Camp Titin, a small U.S. Marine training camp south of Aqaba used to train Jordanian forces along the Gulf of Aqaba. Iranian state media claimed the strike destroyed military buildings and helicopters and killed a large number of U.S. personnel. Those claims have not been independently verified. Two U.S. officials told Reuters there were no reported U.S. casualties at facilities in Jordan based on initial information.
Video shows the Iranian ballistic missile impacting near the city of Aqaba.
This was the second Iranian attack into Jordan in roughly 48 hours. Overnight August 30–31, Iran launched missiles and drones at U.S.-linked sites in the kingdom, including the Muwaffaq Salti / Azraq area, after a U.S. strike on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz. The two exchanges are the first major kinetic back-and-forth since the June U.S.–Iran Memorandum of Understanding expired in August.
The latest Iranian fire came after a wave of U.S. strikes on September 1. Iranian media and local reports said explosions were heard in Chabahar, Bandar Abbas, Qeshm Island, Konarak, Jask, Sirik, and Minab. CENTCOM did not name those cities. It said U.S. forces struck IRGC air-defense sites, radar systems, maritime assets and facilities, mine-laying capabilities, and communications sites, following attempted IRGC attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and on American service members.
Video reported to show the U.S. bombardment of Sirik.
Iranian officials say one of those strikes hit a home during a wedding ceremony in Kuhestak, in Sirik County, killing four people, including a child, and wounding 67 others. Reported figures have varied. The United States says it does not target civilians.
Video taken from Sirik and obtained by GCR confirms that a U.S. strike hit the area. It does not confirm what was hit. Precision geolocation is difficult with the footage currently available. A second video shows the building Iranian media identified as the wedding site. The clip shows a damaged structure. It does not, on its own, prove a wedding was underway.
Video captured in the aftermath of the incident shows a residential style building on fire. Image from the Iranian Red Crescent Society, showing the house which was the site of a bombing in Sirik. This was the site of the alleged wedding celebration.
“Unfortunately, this is a residential building. And unfortunately, this happened during my daughter’s wedding ceremony,” Ali Mallahi, father of the bride and owner of the building, said in a video broadcast by Iranian state media.
Looking at maps of the area, the U.S. targeted a telecommunications tower in the vicinity of the house, which was struck.
Kuhestak telecommunications tower in SirikThis Google Earth Image shows how close the house and Telecom tower are to each other.
It appears just from looking at the map, the images, and the video from the scene that if the strike on the house wasn’t intentional, it was possibly hit in a U.S. strike that missed its original target, which is only 143 meters away from the house where the wedding celebration was said to be taking place. A tragedy, but one that happens in war often enough. The U.S. faced a similar situation during the raid on Venezuela when one of its upgraded AGM-88 HARM missiles missed its target and hit an apartment.
President Donald Trump said the U.S. operation was a response to Iranian forces attempting to lay more mines in the Strait of Hormuz. Sirik was one of multiple reported aimpoints in that wave, not a standalone strike.
In the hours after the U.S. attacks, IRGC missile forces appear to have targeted Camp Titin in Jordan. Iranian state media presented the camp as a successful hit. Footage obtained by GCR of one incoming missile does not show an intercept and appears to show the weapon striking the side of a mountain rather than a developed part of the camp. That can mean several things: the missile was already going to miss anything that mattered, the air-defense battery chose not to spend an interceptor on it, or the system was occupied with other tracks. Jordan has absorbed a large volume of Iranian fire since the start of hostilities. The more likely reading of this particular clip is that the missile was heading into the high ground around Aqaba and was not assessed as enough of a threat to engage. That is what the video appears to show. It does not prove a successful strike on the camp, and it does not prove Jordanian or U.S. air defenses were out of ammunition.
Today’s exchange is a return to open kinetic strikes. That is a sharp contrast with late August, when U.S. officials leaned hard on economic pressure — including the “Economic Outcast” / “economic D-Day” track and talked as if large new bombing campaigns were no longer the main tool. Limited strikes and intercepts are not the same thing as a full restart of the February war. They are also not the pause Washington had been describing.
Military actions are often used in conjunction with economic pressure to reach a goal. In most cases, military action, nor economic action alone, is enough. Using them together adds extra pressure. It also appears that the military strikes are supporting the economic strikes by targeting radars, air defense, and missile sites near the coast that Iran has tried to use to maintain control over the strait.
CENTCOM said after the strikes:
“U.S. forces struck Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targets including air defense sites, radar systems, maritime assets and facilities, mine laying capabilities, and communications sites.
The strikes follow recent attempted attacks by the IRGC against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and against American service members.
More than 50,000 U.S. service members are currently operating across the Middle East and remain vigilant, lethal, and prepared to continue executing operations directed by the Commander in Chief.”
In the following days, Iran is claiming that the U.S. strike on the wedding is a war crime, a claim being repeated by many in Iran, including Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei. Iranian authorities say another 14 people were killed in separate attacks that took place at the same time.
CENTCOM video
Author note.
I know this strike was several days before I posted about it. In some cases, I’m not able to verify the footage I’m sent or that I find, and it takes me a while to go through my steps to verify that footage is what it is claiming to be. While GCR does often cover breaking news, its mission is more about analysis and verification. Thank you always for all the support.
Please feel free to comment. I always want to do better. I’m not trained in any of this stuff. Writing, conflict reporting, and analysis is something I’ve taught myself how to do, and I know there are areas I can improve, so please, if you have a question, comment, or anything that can help me improve. Message me on Facebook or I can be reached through the email found on the contact me page.
This week, the AIM-242 Malice, a LRAAM (Long Range Air-to-air Missile), was announced by the U.S. Navy.
We don’t know much about the missile, but what we do know is that it was quietly worked on by Raytheon and is capable of hitting targets over 250 nautical miles (463 kilometers) away, according to Navy reporting. Its 13.5″ diameter and aerodynamic profile were built for range as well as for the ability to be carried by fighters with internal weapons bays.
The missile was officially announced on August 22, 2026, at the Tailhook symposium in Reno, Nevada. The Navy announced there that the weapon was already in flight testing and being developed for deployment on the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, the Lockheed Martin F-35, and the future F/A-XX program.
Two AIM-424
It’s thought that the development of the AIM-424 comes from the Long-Range Engagement Weapon (LREW) special access program first disclosed to the public in 2017. At the time, the US Air Force was looking for a two-stage air-to-air missile that could be carried in the internal weapons bay of a stealth fighter (F-35 or F-22), a similar use case to AIM-424.
The range of the AIM-424 has been quoted as around 250 nautical miles, which is similar to the publicly reported upper limits of the AIM-174B Gunslinger, which is a derivative of the sea-based RIM-174B Standard Extended Range Active Radar Missile (ERAM, Standard Missile-6, or SM-6). What the AIM-424 brings to the table is versatility, as the Gunslinger is a much larger missile and currently only known to be carried by the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet.
A U.S. Navy Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet (BuNo 166673) of Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 9 (VX-9) flies over the Point Mugu Sea Range in Southern California (USA), 24 September 2024. The aircraft carries two AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles, three AIM-120 AMRAAM and four AIM-174B long-range air-to-air missiles, an infrared search and track system (IRST) in a modified drop tank on its centerline, as well as an ATFLIR targeting pod on its left cheek station.
The U.S. Air Force and Navy have both put a priority on extending the engagement range of its fighters as the U.S.’s potential enemies extend the range of their armaments. China fields the PL-17 with a reported range of over 300 miles.
PLA Air Force J-16, armed with the PL-17 long-range air-to-air missile
An important caveat to all of this is that the published range figures are usually much larger than what the missile can reasonably expect to make a hit on a target. The range is tested using high altitude, in good weather conditions, against a non-maneuvering target. The tests don’t use any sort of jamming or defensive countermeasures. Taking these factors into account, the range these that any air-to-air missile can expect to score a kill is much shorter than what is published.
In air-to-air combat, you have a concept of the No-Escape Zone (NEZ). This is the volume of space in which the target cannot defeat the missile through pure kinematics (turning away, accelerating, diving, or any combination of those) no matter how well the pilot flies. Outside the NEZ, the probability of kill (Pk) falls off steeply. For many conventional solid-rocket missiles (most of them), the NEZ is often roughly one-third (or less) of the advertised maximum range.
A related concept is the practical effective engagement range against an alert, maneuvering fighter that is using countermeasures. That distance is usually even shorter than the pure kinematic NEZ once you factor in real-world degradation factors.
Most missiles that use solid rocket fuel burn their fuel very quickly, most medium range within the first 10-12 seconds of launch. After that, burnout the missile is coasting. It is a finite amount of energy that it must manage all the way to the target. Course corrections and drag come into play, and at very long range, the missile could simply lose all energy and “go ballistic”, keeping a straight course and falling to the Earth.
While these factors are all important it shows why companies are continuing to push the envelope and produce these long range systems, as the more you can push the ideal range, the longer range that the missile will have under less than ideal combat situations where the enemy is jamming the missile, and using ever tool he has to evade.
On Tuesday July 7 2026, the U.S. launched a wave of strikes on Iran in retaliation for recent strikes carried out in international shipping by Iran. U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) put the following statement following the strikes.
Video from Bandar Abbas showed explosions as the U.S. Air Force and Navy carried out their strikes over 80 targets, including 60 IRGC speedboats in and near the Strait of Hormuz.
Video shows U.S.Strikes on Bandar Abbas.
The U.S. also targeted Iranian air defense systems, command and control networks, coastal radar sites, and anti-ship missile capabilities. This is the largest strike since the ceasefire was agreed upon in April.
Further explosions were reported in Sirik and as far as Kharg Island, Iran’s largest oil facility handling 90% of its oil export. The U.S. previously struck targets on the island in April; however, it stuck to just hitting military sites and infrastructure and leaving the oil export untouched.
Official U.S. of the strikes
NASA Firms is a satellite program used primarily to track wildfires. That data can also be used to track combat strikes. Some area show on FIRMS every days, such as industrial zones however tonight shows multiple fires where we wouldn’t expect to see fires in Iran, and specially looking at Bandar Abbas and the Geruk area.
Strikes one and two in Bandar Abbas show what seems to be strikes on the port where smaller IRGC patrol boats are kept. Video from the city confirms this as well. Close up on the port to the left. Second portNASA FIRMS shows potentially two locations struck here at Sarkhur Tahruyi. The boat dock itself as well as what looks to be a comms tower of some sort. This comms antenna is right beside the dock and also shows signs of being struck.
Iranian response
Khatam al-Anbiya Central, Iran’s top joint military command, put out a statement saying that the U.S. had committed a “blatant act of aggression” by targeting parts of southern Iran. The statement said Iranian armed forces would deliver a “crushing response.” The command also said that it would accept no U.S. interference in the management of the Strait of Hormuz and that the only safe passage for commercial shipping and tankers was the route Iran has laid out.
In the hours after Bahrain was the first to report incoming Iranian drones and missiles, they announced their people should seek shelter and that their army was engaging hostile missiles. Kuwait also received incoming fire.
Wednesday, May 27, 2026, U.S. forces launched a fresh wave of strikes on Iranian targets, primarily in southern Iran. The strikes came after U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) reported that Iran had launched a ballistic missile toward a U.S. base in Kuwait. The missile was reported as being intercepted by Kuwait forces. Hours earlier, Iran had launched a wave of four one-way attack drones, which were shot down by U.S. forces.
This exchange continues a pattern of back-and-forth attacks in the past week – from both sides – that has put the fragile April ceasefire to the test as negotiations are currently ongoing. A further 60 day ceasefire is awaiting a signature from U.S. President Donald Trump today.
Timeline of strikes
Here’s a timeline of events over the past week to provide clearer context:
May 25, 2026
Iran attempted to deploy naval mines near the Strait of Hormuz, posing risks to U.S. forces and shipping. U.S. forces responded by sinking IRGC vessels involved in the mine-laying efforts. Iran then fired surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) at U.S. aircraft. These actions set the stage for the clashes that followed.
[Video Placeholder: Claimed intercepted missile tracking an F-35 or related footage]
May 26, 2026 (Monday)
U.S. CENTCOM carried out “self-defense” strikes in southern Iran, primarily in the Bandar Abbas area. The targets included Iranian missile launch sites and boats allegedly attempting to emplace naval mines in or near the Strait of Hormuz.
The U.S. described the operation as necessary to protect troops and maritime traffic during the ongoing ceasefire. Some Iranian personnel were reported killed. Iranian officials viewed the strikes as a violation of the ceasefire.
May 27, 2026 (Tuesday)
U.S. forces shot down four Iranian one-way attack drones that were threatening the Strait of Hormuz area. They also struck an Iranian ground control station near Bandar Abbas International Airport to prevent a fifth drone launch.
May 28, 2026 (Wednesday/Thursday, ongoing)
The U.S. carried out additional defensive strikes near Bandar Abbas, targeting a military/ground control site linked to drone threats. U.S. forces intercepted Iranian drones. CENTCOM emphasized restraint while defending U.S. forces and interests.
Video reportedly shows the U.S. attack on Bandar Abbas. A cruise missile can be seen flying through the sky before it strikes a target out of view of the camera.
In response, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched a retaliatory ballistic missile (and reportedly a drone) attack toward a U.S. air base. The IRGC claimed it targeted the base responsible for the strikes near Bandar Abbas, which has been widely linked to facilities in Kuwait. Kuwait activated its air defenses and intercepted the incoming missile(s) and drones. No major casualties were reported. The IRGC called the strike a “serious warning” and threatened more decisive action if U.S. aggression continues.
🇮🇷 #Iran – 🇺🇸 #US: The IRGC has released a statement claiming responsibility for a missile strike against what it described as a “US military airbase” in Kuwait, allegedly in response to new American "defensive" strikes on an Iranian military site.
CENTCOM labeled Iran’s attack an “egregious ceasefire violation.” Iran also reported incidents involving warning shots at ships in the Hormuz area.
Iranian sources dispute the U.S. claim of conducting purely self-defense strikes, arguing that Iran was only responding to aggressive U.S. actions.
The White House and Tehran are currently working on a 60-day extension of the ceasefire to allow more time for negotiations.
BREAKING: The Iranian Air Defense Force published this video showing the shootdown of an AGM-158B JASSM-ER stealth cruise missile launched by the U.S. military against a military site in Iran this morning.#OperationEpicFury#OperationLionsRoarpic.twitter.com/tCtBiaEQjm
— Babak Taghvaee – The Crisis Watch (@BabakTaghvaee1) May 28, 2026
Video released from the IRGC shows the shoot down of a US AGM-158B JASSM-ER stealth cruise missile. The video is the view from a thermal detection systems, which is built around passive Infrared signals which can detect stealth aircraft because of the heat they emit. Earlier in the war a U.S. F-35 was struck because it was detected and tracked with this technology.
The U.S. confirms a Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II (Warthog) has been shot over the Persian Gulf. This aircraft was believed to have been a part of today’s C-SAR mission to recover the downed F-15E pilots in Iran or operating independently running operations near the strait. An A-10 was seen earlier near the area where the F-15E Strike Eagle was downed.
The U.S. has confirmed the aircraft was downed/shot but have yet to say what weapon hit the aircraft. The pilot has already been recovered and is alive (some reports say he is receiving medical attention).The pilot managed to limp the aircraft to Kuwaiti airspace and ejected there, with the plane going down in Kuwait.
This video was released by Iran as evidence of a shoot down however this aircraft looks more like an MQ-9 drone instead of an A-10.
The A-10 is a ground-attack jet, known for its 30mm GAU-8 cannon and ability to operate at low altitude in contested environments. It is thought of by the soldiers whose lives it’s saved as the “King of CAS” however it is also useful in this conflict for interdicting Iranian fast attack boats and minelayers, and also being used to hit Iranian backed militia targets in Iraq. It is heavily armored and can carry a variety of munitions. The A-10 is also likely nearing the end of its service as some in the Air Force leadership continue to push for its retirement. While other platforms can do CAS work, like the F-16 and F-35, neither is a designated CAS platform and as such does the job with less success.
The videos have all been geolocated by GCR to an area of western/southwestern Iran. The search area appears very large — two of the videos when geolocated show areas at least 150 miles apart. One is a bridge going over the Karun River in Khuzestan province, the other video shows an A-10 thought to be providing air cover for C-SAR assets located 150 miles south near Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province.
A U.S. Air Force fighter has been shot down over Iran according to two U.S. officials who spoke with the Washington Post. The fighter, an F-15E Strike Eagle from the 494th Fighter Squadron (“Panthers,” 48th Fighter Wing, RAF Lakenheath, UK), carries a crew of two ,pilot and a weapons systems officer, both of whom are still missing after go ejecting from the aircraft.
Currently a search and rescue mission is underway for the crew. Video verified by GCR shows HC-130J Combat King II aircraft flying low over parts of Iran. This tanker is also shown refueling at least two HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters, which specialize in C-SAR (Combat search and rescue) operations. Other videos from the same region show additional U.S. aircraft flying low over the area where the plane was thought to have been downed. In another video the search and rescue assets take small arms fire from the Iranian military/IRGC. Also shown in these videos is an HC-130 Combat King II which acts as a mobile surveillance platform and specializes in C-SAR missions.
Iranian channels publish footage of U.S. Air Force HC-130J Combat King II and HH-60G Pave Hawk search and rescue (SAR) aircraft conducting an operation in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province in southern Iran this afternoon.
— Status-6 (War & Military News) (@Archer83Able) April 3, 2026
NOW: F-35 jets and MQ-9 drones were also spotted supporting U.S. helicopters over Iran, searching for the pilots of downed F-15E jet. pic.twitter.com/1cpNQ7pJq0
Some of the early GCR geolocation work showing the general search area.
This news is less shocking than it could be, as this morning images appeared on Iranian state media that appeared to show the wreckage from a U.S. fighter. Iranian outlets (including Tasnim and IRIB) initially claimed the downed jet was an F-35 stealth fighter, but quickly aligned their reporting with the visible wreckage, which clearly matches an F-15E Strike Eagle. The debris shows burned and fragmented sections of the vertical tail, wings, and fuselage, with distinctive markings including the “LN” tail code, red/yellow band, “EUROPE” script, and U.S. Air Forces in Europe badge, consistent with the 494th FS aircraft.
Iranian state television has gone further, urging civilians in the area to search for the missing American crew and offering rewards for their capture. The IRGC is treating the incident as a major propaganda victory.
This is a rapidly developing story as part of the ongoing U.S./Israeli Operation Epic Fury. U.S. officials have confirmed the loss to select media, but CENTCOM has not yet issued a full public statement. GCR will continue monitoring and geolocating new videos as they emerge.
Update 5:38 EST
One pilot has been found and has been recovered. During the course of the search and rescue operation the rescue aircraft came under small arms fire. The helicopters were hit and but made it back to base. One A-10 was hit but made it back to friendly territory before ejecting according to CBS and The New York Times. Iran released a video showing a surface to air missile of some kind striking the A-10.
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