US sea drones, ground troops & more: Military experts on Iran

Colonel Leighton, we've heard a lot about drones  being used in the Iran war and for the first time, Sinkcom says that the US used a SEA drone in  combat. Tell us about the significance of that. Yeah, that's really significant, Pamela. One of  the key things here is when you look at the actual. uh explosions that are a part of this. This  was a a dry dock that the Iranians used. And. you can see the sea drone moving forward into  the dry dock area. And dry docks are used for. maintenance for ships. And here you can see the  color view uh from the sea drones perspective uh.

that looks like a mini submarine that uh was in  dry dock there. And blowing that up is of course. a very significant thing. It allows us to get in  there uh using these sea drones without risking. personnel. It allows us to get in there uh you  know without really putting in danger not only. the forces that would have to uh take over this  particular area but also air crews potentially. who could be used in in an attack like this. So  this is a major achievement uh from the Navy's. perspective and it kind of mimics what's going  on in the Ukraine war uh because the Ukrainians.

have been able to use sea drones to great effect  against the Black Sea fleet. They've basically. eliminated the Russian Black Sea fleet and they're  now going after commercial vessels in the Black. Sea. Uh here what we're doing is we're going after  those small boats and those submarines that uh. even many submersibles that the Iranians have. And  that of course is a very significant thing. Yeah, it was interesting because I was just overseas on  the USS Abraham Lincoln and the military officials. I spoke to said they learned a lot from Russia's  war on Ukraine in terms of drone warfare and.

how much it has changed modern warfare. Tell us  warfare. Tell us more about that. Yes, one of the. key things here, this is a seronic. This is one of  the US Navy's uh under above surface uh drones and. it was actually used in the rescue operation for  the Apache uh helicopter crew uh that was forced. to ditch their their aircraft in the Persian Gulf.  Uh so it's used for search and rescue missions. They did that for the first time. Uh it's also  of course used as an attack platform and because. it is part of that it really is uh you know  evolution from what we had before. Uh when you.

look at how we started out with things, we started  out with the predator back in the late 90s, early. 2000s that became uh first in the intelligence  community was part of uh the mix that they had, but then it was used by the air force not only  for reconnaissance purposes, but also for example. using Hellfire missiles and Tomahawk missiles  uh to go after uh the various elements that. you know would be potentially providing danger  to US forces and also as an offensive weapon.

that it can be used to go after those areas that  that would be there. And then of course we also. had the Global Hawk. This was a high altitude  platform. The Predator was a low altit lower. altitude platform. This has a huge range of 12,300  nautical miles, can stay up for 34 hours and it uh. you know it is a a good uh launch platform and  also a great reconnaissance platform as well. So that's how we started. Uh but then when you go  back to some of the things that we can do nowadays.

uh the Seronic is an example of that of vessels  that are uh not only surface vessels but then. we also have of course much smaller uh drones  that are in the air as well. So the US is using. drones obviously but also Iran is and it's really  been trying to use that to its advantage because. they're significantly cheaper and sometimes  the US has to use these more expensive weapons. to take down the threat. Tell us about that. That  is so true. for example, the Iran Shahed 136. Uh, so it's a relatively small uh aircraft when you  look at it, but it's still noticeable. It's 8.2.

feet with its wingspan, has a has a range of about  1,200 miles, costs only $20,000. So that's that's. an important number to keep in mind here. Uh and  you know when you see the Shahed uh take off, it. is uh you know an aircraft that uh that can be can  be seen uh in a way that you don't uh you don't. normally expect uh aircraft to uh to fly, but it  is a fairly effective weapon. Now when you look at.

uh the Shahad 136, we mentioned the $20,000 cost.  A standard missile or a Patriot interceptor, they cost between three and four million a piece.  So that's the difference. Now, having said this, there are US weapon systems that are being used  that cost much less than this. For example, there's a weapon system that's being used on  a actual missiles that are in rockets that are. fired by aircraft that costs only $40,000. Not  quite the $20,000 that we have with the shahed. uh but much cheaper than three or four million.  Brett, you know, you heard Trump tonight threaten.

to knock out all of Iran's bridges and power  plants. By the way, this is a threat that he's. made before. Right back when he was talking about  wiping a civilization off the map in that in that. era of this uh rhetoric, he had made specific  threats against the bridges and power plants. But now here we are again with this sort of a  threat. What's your reaction to it now? I think. Kevin just said casting about. I think that's  a pretty good way to put it. Uh both the United.

States and Iran. I think you just see casting  about on on both sides. I think the problem with. that threat is problematic on its face, but also  I I'm not sure the Iranians take it seriously, but if they do take it seriously, uh Aaron, again,  it is the Revolutionary Guard that is in charge in. Thrron, and they will strike uh infrastructure  in the Gulf. I mean, that is basically what they. said. I think they have proven that demonstrated  willingness and capacity to do that. So, then. you're in a war targeting each other's civilian  infrastructure, and that can really uh uh damage.

the global economy. That's that's the that's the  problem of one of many problems here. Yeah. Yeah. And I as we all remember right when desalination  plants were suddenly on on the table right when. that that's sort of what brought this whole thing  to a halt that that would be a global economic. catastrophe uh with an incredible loss of civilian  life. General Kimmit Trump was asked tonight about. the possibility of a ground campaign. Right. So  once again bridges and and and power plants being. threatened but also uh ground troops. Here's the  exchange. Are you ruling out a ground campaign in.

a limited capacity? I don't I don't want to say  that either, but I would say no if I if I thought. it was appropriate. It's like sometimes you  need a ground campaign, but we have other people. that will do the ground campaign for us. Okay,  General, I have I have many questions from this, but I guess let's just go with two of them. First  of all, what would a ground campaign at this point. for the US actually mean? Right, we're now in  month five. And when he says someone's going.

to do it for us, I mean, who is that? Are we back  to the Kurds again? Well, well, first of all, I'd. just like to make a comment about uh bridges and  infrastructure. In fact, I think it's important to. note that uh bridges and infrastructure that are  primarily being used to support military forces. uh are legitimate military targets. I didn't hear  anything about civilian infrastructure. I didn't. hear anything about civilian bridges. So, let's  hope we're going to stay focused on the military. targets. Ground campaign, uh, certainly I don't  think the president is talking about attacking.

into Thraran. Uh, but a ground campaign could  certainly be something like going into Kashiman. It could be going into uh, Car Island. Uh, I  certainly hope we don't do that. I think they're. better alternatives. But it's also important  to note that what the president was doing was. not ruling in he was just not ruling out ground  forces to keep his options open, right? I mean, and in a sense, I guess that's back to casting  about Brett, right? Keeping everything on the.

table. I I want to play for you, Brett, some of  what Trump said about this issue with the toll, right? Because yesterday that really stunned  the world, right? After the US had said it's. international waters, you can never do it. It's  against all international law. Rubio has been. completely clear on this issue. Then suddenly  Trump comes out and says he's going to charge. every ship a 20% fee and now he's changed his  mind. Here's part of why he said he's doing. that. I put it out yesterday. I thought it was  good. I was called by different people, different.

countries, kings and amirs and all of the people  that we all know and we all love and they've been. frankly they've been very strong partners and  they said we'd love to do it a different way. So Brett, what do you think happened to make the  president in less than 24 hours reverse course on. something as specific and major as a 20% toll on  every ship going through the straight and the US. taking over the straight and providing all the  security so those ships could transit? Well,

I'd say two things. I think the one thing the all  the Gulf states including like Oman that works a. little closely with Iran, they are totally opposed  to Iran's uh claim of sovereignty over the strait. and Iran's claim that they will charge a fee.  So the Gulf is united kind of with us against. that. So then for the president to come out and  say actually we're going to protect it and we'll. charge an even higher fee uh was was completely  contradictory and counterproductive to everything. we're trying to do. I'd secondly say, Aaron, that  you know, kind of that'd be a good problem to have.

if we were able to guard the straight and protect  shipping. The issue here is that Iran is using. the kind of ancient uh advantage of terrain and  the modern advantage of drone warfare. And these. drones can be fired from a thousand kilometers  away, even farther away, and hit a slowmoving. tanker. And that is what they're doing to hold the  straight hostage. It is very hard to stop. I dealt. with this in the in the last White House in the  Red Sea when the Houthis and Iranian proxy group. was targeting ships in the Red Sea. We had a naval  coalition. We It's very difficult to stop. So,

uh I' I'd like to know how we're going to  be the guardian of the strait. I think that. would be great if we could do it, but it's a very  difficult equation as General Kim, I think, knows. extremely well. And General Kim, the Iranian army  is also saying they're going to respond. Okay. Uh. there they and they've already claimed, again, I'm  not sure whether this has been true, but they've. obviously shown an ability to do real damage to US  bases, US mil missile interceptors and aircraft. Uh they now say they struck a US base in Jordan  where F-18 fighter jets are stationed and that.

they're going to continue doing this uh until  final victory is achieved. General, you know, it can be it can almost sound like a tit for tat  until suddenly people die. I mean, how concerned. are you tonight given where this is at this moment  about the risks to the tens of thousands of US. troops that are in the Middle East now? Well, I  I think both Brett and I are concerned about that. significantly because again, all we need is one  mistake made by an air defense artilleryman who.

misses a missile coming in. I mean, we saw that  in al-Assad inside of Iraq where we luckily did. not lose a significant number of troops. But when  you have a large concentration of them as we do in. Kuwait, out of date in U in Qatar and some of the  other bases in UAE, that could certainly happen. Uh listen, I think it's important to go back to  Brett's comment. It is clear that if the United. States is the unilateral uh protector of the Gulf  uh of the straight of Hormuz, that will not work.

The fact is we are belligerent in this  conflict and for us to try to control it is. a war situation. Either they have it or we don't.  But as we did with the counterpiracy coalition. uh and we did in the tanker war 198 1981 to  1988 we used non-belligerance in that operation. This is a great opportunity for the British, the  French, the Germans to come in and run a maritime.

escort operation through the straight hormuz.  It tells the Iranians you have a choice. You can. either let these people uh take the commercial  traffic through or you can fire on them and at. this point you now have a war with uh Germany uh  the United Kingdom and France. Now I think we all. understand why the allies have not been rushing to  our assistance in this but there are options other.

than a unilateral operation targeted by the US.  We're on routes connected to the city of Bandar. Abbas which is home to an Iranian military naval  base as you well know. What does that signal to. you about the US strategy that's unfolding right  now? Two things. Wol. First, it is going to. attempt to cut off to kill the assets that could  be used to close the straight of Hormuz. I've been. to Bonder Abbas before the revolution. Obviously,  it's a very important naval port for the Iranians.

and cutting it off has high military utility. So,  point one, go after the places where the Iranians. have weapons systems that help them close the  straight. Point two, in general, going after. infrastructure like bridges, roads, puts economic  pressure on Iran. I think that is part of the. administration's strategy here to get Iran back  to the table. In a phrase, what they're doing is.

escalate in order to deescalate, meaning go after  economic targets, military targets, put pressure. on more attacks with the hope that you can then  deescalate and the Iranians will come back to. the table. That's the strategy. And as you know,  Iran is now retaliating big time with attacks on. various US military assets across the Gulf region.  The Iranian military claims it targeted a US air.

base in Qatar and for the first time a US base  in Syria. It also says it destroyed a long range. radar system and several US refueling aircraft.  If all of this is true, Admiral, how does this. impact the US military's abilities in the region?  So far, we have sufficient combat power in order. to overcome the level of strikes you're seeing  from Iran. And let's be honest here about the. numbers. The US is launching dozens and dozens of  strikes a day at this point. Far less than during.

the initial wave, but 100 200 strikes a day. Iran  is responding with 10 maybe 15 strikes. So over. time that's going to favor the US military  capacity to continue these strikes. However, it does show the Iranians are increasing their  ability to go after their neighbors, that ought. to concern us because if they start going after  Gulf oil and gas infrastructure, that'll have.

big economic downside for the Western economies  as well. Yeah. So far, they're going after US. military sites in these friendly Arab Gulf nations  like the United Arab Emirates, uh, Qatar, Kuwait, uh, Oman, elsewhere in the region. These are all  very close friends, allies of the United States. The US has major bases in the United Arab Emirates  and inqatar at Camp Asalia, the yellowade air.

base. I've been to those facilities. Uh, they're  really home to much of the US military central. command in that region. and the Iranians are keep  attacking those US sites. Now, this this is very. significant, isn't it? It is indeed. And I want to  draw a line under one other kind of troubling uh. item that's surfacing. And that is Iran starting  to talk about closing not the straight of Hormuz, which they've effectively done, but closing what  is called the Bob El Mandeb. It's at the very.

bottom of the map you're showing at the bottom of  the Arabian Peninsula, the bottom of the Red Sea. They've got the Houthis there who have capability  to attack commercial shipping. If you close that. choke point, that closes effectively the Suez  Canal right under the word Israel on your map. That is a major global choke point just like the  straight of form moves. If the Iranians can push. the Houthis into doing that, you've opened a new  front, a western front, if you will, in this war.

So, that is one to watch and one to be concerned  about in the weeks ahead. In his address, his prime time televised address last night,  the president said one sentence, one sentence. and it was a total of about 7 seconds, we checked,  related to the war with Iran uh in his nearly 27. minute speech overall. when he first announced  he was going to give in a televised address, I thought it would be on the war with Iran, but it  wasn't. It was on election uh so-called election.

interference. Was that in your view a missed  opportunity for President Trump? It was. And uh. the numbers are very clear on this. This war is  unpopular across the entire political spectrum. President Trump's own popularity overall is as  low as it's been throughout his two terms of. the presidency. And I think Americans just don't  have a sense of what's the exit strategy, what's.

the endgame here. And when you start getting those  questions from the public, that's the time to do. that nationally televised address and reassure  people and tell them you have a plan and tell. them what the next step is. That's I'm with you.  That's what I was hoping to hear when I caught a. snippet of a televised presidential address.  It's about elections. Those are important, but I think the public would at this point  like to hear what's the next move in the Middle.