A U.S. warship that President Trump said “destroyed” an Iranian drone last week might have actually downed a second one, according to the commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East.
Speaking to CBS News on Tuesday, CENTCOM Commander Gen. Kenneth McKenzie said that the USS Boxer, using state-of-the-art electric jamming technology, had engaged two drones “successfully.”
“As always it was a complex tactical picture, we believe two drones. We believe two drones were successfully — there may have been more that we are not aware of — those are the two that we engaged successfully,” McKenzie said.
“We are confident we brought down one drone, we may have brought down a second,” he said in response to a question asking for clarification about if a second drone was brought down.
McKenzie said the incidents took place about an hour apart in the Strait of Hormuz. The technology, known as the Light Marine Air Defense Integrated System, was reportedly tethered to an all-terrain vehicle on board the USS Boxer.
Sailors and Marines aboard the ship reportedly saw one of the drones go down while the other disappeared from radar and was believed to have been downed.
Iranian officials have denied the claim that the United States destroyed one of their drones.
Tensions have risen between Iran, the U.S., and the United Kingdom in recent weeks. Last week, Iranian forces captured a British oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. recently planned airstrikes against Iranian facilities in response to the downing of a U.S. drone, but Trump said he called off the attack at the last moment, citing possible loss of life.
