A US navy fighter jet shot down an Iranian drone that was approaching the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea, the US military has said.
The US Central Command said in a statement that the drone “aggressively approached” the aircraft carrier with “unclear intent” and it “continued to fly towards the ship despite de-escalatory measures taken by US forces operating in international waters”.
The US military said the incident also occurred within hours of another incident in which Iranian forces harassed a US-flagged and US-crewed merchant vessel that was sailing in the Strait of Hormuz.
The Shahed-139 drone was shot down by an F-35C fighter jet from the Lincoln, which, according to US Central Command, was sailing about 500 miles from Iran’s southern coast.
The military’s statement noted that no American troops were harmed and no equipment was damaged.
