On Saturday morning, the U.S. military commenced Operation Epic Fury. American President Donald Trump stated that the operation’s objectives “are clear.” First, to destroy Iran’s missile capabilities; second, to “annihilate” Iran’s navy; third, to never allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon; fourth, to ensure “that the Iranian regime cannot arm, fund, and direct terrorist armies outside of [its] borders.”
Here are some initial lessons from the ongoing military operations against Iran.
Intelligence and overwhelming force
The attack against Iran was supported by years of intelligence collection and analysis. This required penetrating the Iranian political, diplomatic, military, and intelligence apparatuses. According to some reports, Israel had even hacked Tehran’s street cameras.
As a result of superb intelligence-gathering, the U.S. and Israel knew that the senior Iranian leadership would be meeting on Saturday morning on the supreme leader’s compound. That knowledge opened the way for the decapitation of the regime.
The U.S. and Israel decided the timing of the attacks based on that intelligence. The initial plan was to wait for nighttime. There is no other military force more capable of fighting in the dark than the U.S. military. When the strikes did not begin on Friday night and early Saturday morning, the Iranian leadership almost certainly believed that it had another day before war began. So, they decided to meet on Saturday morning, during daylight. The intelligence of that meeting precipitated the strikes and dealt a catastrophic blow to Iran’s regime. Striking in the morning rather than at night achieved tactical surprise.
In that opening salvo of Operation Epic Fury, the Israeli Defense Force launched over 30 munitions against Khamenei’s compound, resulting in the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Commander of the IRGC Ground Forces Mohammad Pakpour, Minister of Defense Aziz Nasirzadeh, Deputy Minister of Defense Hossein Jabal Ameli, Intelligence Chief of “Khatam al-Anbiya” Salah Esadi, and other high level political and military leaders.
Casualties are inevitable
Another initial lesson is that the U.S. military is not casualty-proof despite its advanced capabilities. Thus far in the conflict, the U.S. military has lost six troops killed in action and several seriously wounded. The casualties resulted from an Iranian strike in Kuwait on Sunday, targeting an Army sustainment unit located there.
In addition, on Monday, the Air Force lost three F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jets in a friendly fire incident over Kuwait. The Kuwaiti air defenses, most likely using U.S.-made MIM-104 Patriot systems, shot down the three F-15Es by mistake. All six air crew ejected safely.
President Trump had stated in his speech announcing Operation Epic Fury that such large-scale military operations are bound to result in American casualties.
Shock and awe
Introduced in the invasion of Iraq, the concept of shock and awe continues to be applicable in 2026. The U.S. military launched a combined arms operation across all domains, including cyber and space, against Iran.
In the opening hours of Operation Epic Fury, the Air Force, Navy, and Army, as well as the Israeli Defense Force, struck over 1,000 targets across Iran. These were military, political, and intelligence targets crucial to the survival of the regime and the offensive capabilities of the Iranian military.
Thus far, the U.S. Navy has reportedly sunk 11 Iranian Navy vessels, mainly by Tomahawk missiles launched from submarines. The command and control of the Iranian military has also been largely destroyed. Moreover, Iran’s ballistic missile force has suffered significant blows, though it continues to launch munitions against American and allied forces in the region.
Feature Image: An F/A-18 ready to take off in support of Operation Epic Fury. (USCENTCOM/X)
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