Bold claim: The U.S. is flexing air superiority, but Iranian attacks may still strike targets as the conflict drags on. And this is the part most people miss: even with overwhelming defenses, no war plan is foolproof.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth acknowledged on Wednesday that some Iranian air strikes could still reach their targets, even as he asserted that American military dominance is rapidly shaping control of Iran’s airspace. Washington has invested heavily in air-defense measures to shield American troops and allied forces in the Middle East, he told reporters at the Pentagon days after the U.S. and Israel launched strikes against Iran, a campaign that has broadened its reach across the region.
"This does not mean we can stop everything, but we ensured that the maximum possible defense and maximum possible force protection was set up before we went on offense," Hegseth said.
The admission that additional drone or missile strikes in the region could cause harm to service members comes as President Donald Trump and top defense officials warned that further American casualties were possible in a conflict that began Saturday and could endure for months.
Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, reminded reporters that U.S. service members remain in harm’s way and that risk remains high.
Six soldiers were killed when an Iranian drone strike hit an operations center in Kuwait on Sunday, near a civilian port and far from the main Army base. The husband of one of the fallen soldiers, part of a logistics unit based in Iowa, described the center as a shipping-container-style building with no defenses.
When asked about deploying ground troops in Iran, Caine declined, saying that decision falls to policymakers and that he executes policy, not creates it.
Hegseth signaled a potentially longer war than previously anticipated, suggesting the conflict could last eight weeks, though he stopped short of committing to a fixed duration. He emphasized that the U.S. has the munitions and equipment to prevail in a war of attrition and that the timeline would depend on how events unfold.
"You can say four weeks, but it could be six, it could be eight, it could be three," he noted. "Ultimately, we set the pace and the tempo. The enemy is off balance, and we’re going to keep them off balance."
The U.S. is continuing to deploy additional forces to the region, including jet fighters and bombers. Officials said the U.S. will take whatever time is needed to achieve success. Supplies of weaponry aren’t an issue; the military has shifted from using the most advanced weapons at the campaign’s start to gravity bombs as control over Iranian skies increases. Advanced stockpiles remain robust.
Caine added that strikes on Iranian missile sites and other targets have been effective enough to allow deeper inland actions, enabling a shift from long-range precision munitions to more traditional, aircraft-delivered bombs.
Both officials stated that the U.S. has sufficient precision munitions for ongoing operations, while withholding specific quantities for security reasons. They asserted that air defenses—both U.S. and allied—have ample capacity to sustain operations.
Trump described this week’s campaign as likely lasting four to five weeks, though he indicated willingness to endure longer if necessary.
Tehran has vowed to devastate the Middle East’s military and economic infrastructure, signaling that the war could expand further. Yet Iran’s use of missiles and drones appears to be depleting its arsenal.
According to Caine, Iran’s use of ballistic missiles has fallen by 86% since the first day of the campaign, with a 23% drop in the last 24 hours. One-way attack drone sorties are down 73% from the opening days, suggesting Iran may be conserving weapons for a prolonged conflict.
— Associated Press writers Ben Finley and Meg Kinnard contributed to this report.
