Big hit: Iran 'drone carrier' ship struck, 'on fire' — US Admiral

As the war widens across the Middle East, the blows at sea have grown heavier.

Admiral Brad Cooper, chief of US Central Command, reported that the campaign has already sent more than 30 vessels of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) navy to the bottom of the sea.

Among them was a prized asset — an Iranian drone-carrier ship, struck in recent hours and left burning.

In the plain language of war: The sea lanes are being cleared. The fleet that once threatened them is shrinking.

"We're now up over 30 ships, and in just the last few hours, we hit an Iranian drone carrier ship, roughly the size of a World War II aircraft carrier," said US Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of the US Central Command in charge of the military campaign in the Middle East.

"As we speak, it's on fire," Admiral Cooper added.

Cooper said the operation aims not only to destroy what Iran fields today, but to break its ability to rebuild tomorrow. The campaign, he added, will continue until that task is done.

The US Admiral said part of their mission is to raze or level Iran's ballistic missile industrial base, cited an order by US President Donald Trump.

"So we're not just hitting what they have — we are destroying their ability to rebuild," Cooper added.

'It will take some time'

"And so, as we transition into the next phase of this operation, to systemically dismantle Iran's missile production capability for the future —and that is absolutely in progress — this will take some time, but our forces are well supplied, as the Secretary (Pete Hegseth) said, and we are absolutely ready to prosecute this mission decisively."