US Navy shows destroyer firing interceptor at Iranian missile

The Department of Defense confirmed two U.S. naval ships intercepted and destroyed missiles launched by Iran on the eastern Mediterranean Sea on Tuesday. USS Bulkeley (DDG-84) and USS Cole (DDG-67) fired a “dozen interceptors” at missiles targeting Israel.

Naval reports say both destroyers have the aegis weapons system designed for ballistic missile defense. No ground-based interceptors were used.

Officials said they were not aware of any prewarning by Iran about the attack. 

“We’ve been closely consulting with Israel for a while now to be prepared in the eventuality,” Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder said at a Pentagon press briefing. “And as today demonstrated, we were prepared, and we were able to successfully work alongside Israel to defend them from this attack.”

Ryder later added that the U.S. has “a lot of capability in the region” and is “prepared for a wide variety of threats.” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered U.S. carriers to maintain a near-constant presence in the Middle East since the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks.

This week, Iran launched nearly 200 missiles at Israel after its ground invasion of Lebanon, escalating tension in the region.

“Certainly, again, we don’t want to see this, you know, broaden into a wider regional conflict, but we understand, again, that — that what Israel is doing are limited operations to destroy that attack infrastructure and then enable citizens on both sides of the border to return home,” Ryder stated. “Ultimately, at the end of the day, we do think that a diplomatic resolution is the only way to achieve lasting stability and security across the Israel-Lebanon border.”