WASHINGTON — The US decimated Iran’s navy for a “full generation,” while retaining “all the munitions necessary” to restart the war, Adm. Brad Cooper, CENTCOM commander, told lawmakers Thursday.
Cooper claimed that in the 30 months preceding Operation Epic Fury, Iranian-backed forces fired off some 350 attacks against US personnel, but now that 90% of its defense industrial capacity has been “destroyed,” the regime’s ability to project power has diminished dramatically.
“I would assess that the drone and missile force will take years to reconstitute,” Cooper testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday. “[Iran’s] navy likely will not get back to its previous size for a full generation.”
When asked about Iran’s ability to project power, Cooper assessed, “They certainly cannot do it at the level of mass that we all saw, with hundreds of missiles and drones raining across the Middle East” before Operation Epic Fury.
“That doesn’t mean they don’t have any capability. But that broad power projection capability no longer exists,” he said.
Cooper, the 16th commander of CENTCOM, which oversees joint US military operations in the Middle East, was created in response to aggression from Iran over four decades ago.
Fears have mounted on Capitol Hill that the war has dramatically drained US munitions stockpiles and reduced military readiness for future conflicts.
An analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) last month assessed that the US has burned through almost half of its Patriot missile interceptors and over half of its Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptors.
Cooper declined to delve into specific munitions levels and deferred on how long it will take to replenish America’s stockpile.
“I have all the munitions necessary to both defend our forces as well as conduct a broad range of contingencies,” Cooper said. “Our partners also have the sufficient munitions necessary for defense.”
He denied reports from the New York Times and Washington Post that US officials believe Iran could regain 70% to 75% of its missile and launcher capacity.
“What I would say from my perspective is the numbers that I’ve seen in open source are not accurate,” Cooper said in response to a question from Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.)
“I think what also is not taken into consideration [is] it’s more than just the numbers. It’s the command and control that’s been shattered. It’s a significant degradation,” he added. “And it’s the lack of any ability to then produce any missiles or drones on the back end.”
Cooper also conveyed optimism about the state of US drone technology.
“I’d like to use the opportunity to myth-bust on drones,” Cooper told the panel at one point. “The days of $35,000 drones that we saw in the last couple of years, particularly in the fight against the Houthis in Yemen, those days are behind us today.”
There have been concerns on Capitol Hill that the military hasn’t properly adapted to the drone era amid the war in Ukraine, where both Kyiv and Moscow have made considerable advancements in the technology.
“We face an increased threat from drones that are highly sophisticated. They’re jet-powered. They have high-end sensors,” he went on. “Those days of using high-value defenses to shoot down cheap targets are behind us.”
“What we have been doing lately is using our own low-cost drones, attacking Iran … flipping the cost curve in many ways,” he concluded. “I like where we are in this regard.”
