Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth acknowledged on Wednesday that some Iranian air attacks may still hit their targets even as he asserted that U.S. military superiority is quickly giving it control of the Islamic Republic\u2019s airspace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The United States has spared \u201cno expense or capability\u201d to enhance air defense systems to protect American forces and allies in the Middle East, Hegseth told reporters at the Pentagon days after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran in a war that has widened throughout the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis 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,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The acknowledgment that additional drone or missile strikes in the region could cause damage and harm to troops comes as President Donald Trump and top defense leaders have warned that more American casualties were expected in a conflict that began Saturday and could last months. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Wednesday, the Trump administration revealed that a U.S. submarine fired a torpedo that sank an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
U.S. service members \u201cremain in harm\u2019s way, and we must be clear-eyed that the risk is still high,\u201d Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at the news conference with Hegseth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Six soldiers were killed when an Iranian drone strike hit an operations center Sunday in the heart of a civilian port in Kuwait, more than 10 miles from the main Army base. The husband of one of the slain soldiers, who was part of a supply and logistics unit based in Iowa, says the center was a shipping container-style building and had no defenses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Caine declined to answer a question about the possibility of deploying ground troops in Iran, which Trump has not ruled out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m not going to comment on U.S. boots on the ground,\u201d Caine said. \u201cI think that\u2019s a question for policymakers. And I don\u2019t make policy, I execute policy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that it was \u201cnot part of the plan for this operation at this time\u201d but noted that \u201cI\u2019m not going to remove an option for the president that is on the table.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hegseth also signaled a possible longer time frame for the conflict than has previously been floated by the administration, saying it could last eight weeks but that the U.S. has the munitions and the equipment to beat Iran in a war of attrition. He declined to set a specific time range, saying the specific duration of the war would depend on how it unfolds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou can say four weeks, but it could be six, it could be eight, it could be three,\u201d Hegseth said. \u201cUltimately, we set the pace and the tempo. The enemy is off balance, and we\u2019re going to keep them off balance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
More forces are arriving in the region, including jet fighters and bombers, Hegseth said, and the U.S. \u201cwill take all the time we need to make sure that we succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Supplies of weaponry are not an issue, Hegseth and Caine said, with the defense secretary noting that the military used more advanced weapons at the start of the campaign but was switching to gravity bombs now that the U.S. has gained control of the Iranian sky. Stockpiles of the advanced weapons remain \u201cextremely strong,\u201d Hegseth said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Caine said U.S. attacks on Iranian missile sites and other offensive targets have been successful enough that forces can strike deeper inland, allowing for the shift from sophisticated weapons that can be launched from far away to more traditional, precision bombs dropped by aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Caine said the U.S. has \u201csufficient precision munitions for the task at hand, both on the offense and defense.\u201d He noted that the military would not be releasing quantities, citing operational security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur air defenses and that of our allies have plenty of runway,\u201d Hegseth said. \u201cWe can sustain this fight easily for as long as we need to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump said this week the campaign is likely to last four weeks to five weeks but he was prepared \u201cto go far longer than that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The number of ballistic missiles fired by Iran is down 86% from the first day of the U.S. military\u2019s campaign, with a 23% drop in the past 24 hours, Caine said Wednesday, and Iran\u2019s use of one-way attack drones is down 73% from the opening days. The decrease could indicate that Iran is holding some weapons in reserve to prolong the conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The administration promoted its efforts to help Americans depart the region. It abruptly advised those in 14 countries to leave immediately even as the threat of missiles and drones closed airspace in the region and caused widespread flight cancellations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The State Department said it has assisted nearly 6,500 Americans since the start of the war and was working to arrange charter flights or other transportation. Caine said the military has opened up available seats as military transport planes arrive \u201cto try to help folks get out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The State Department said more than 17,500 Americans have returned to the United States from the Middle East since Saturday, including more than 8,500 on Tuesday alone, although it acknowledged that the vast majority of those used commercial transportation without any government assistance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth acknowledged on Wednesday that some Iranian air attacks may still hit their targets despite U.S. air superiority over Iran.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":110270,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":8,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,8,12,26,62,65],"tags":[],"coauthors":[7401],"class_list":["post-79982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-flashpoints","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress","category-your-navy"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"3G2OOCHIPZDB7DUFTOWCOLW7SA","arc_canonical_url":"\/flashpoints\/2026\/03\/04\/despite-air-dominance-us-cant-stop-everything-iran-fires-hegseth-says\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n