The first joint press conference between Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Chief of Staff of the US Armed Forces Gen. Dan Caine on Operation EPIC FURY, which has now been underway for 100 hours, was held a short while ago at the Pentagon.

First, the Secretary of War stated that within a maximum of one week, US forces expect to gain full control of Iranian airspace and operate in an uncontested airspace, and that additional fighters and bombers will arrive today in the theater of operations.

The United States, as confirmed during the press conference, has focused primarily on the destruction of ballistic missile launch capabilities and secondarily on Iranian naval capabilities, with over 20 ships destroyed (and 1 submarine), while as of today the focus has shifted to the defense industry and production capabilities related to drones and missiles. The United States believes that the first two objectives have been substantially achieved: the Iranian Navy (both IRGC and ARTESH) has been taken out of action and missile and drone launches have decreased significantly. In this regard, Hegseth confirmed the sinking of the Iranian Navy's DENA corvette (MOUDGE class), hit by an Mk-48 torpedo launched from a US Navy submarine off the coast of Sri Lanka. As for Iran's strike capabilities, according to figures released by General Caine, ballistic missile launches have fallen by 86% compared to day 1 (including 23% in the last 24 hours), while drone launches have fallen by 73% since the start of Iran's retaliation. In total, according to figures released during the press conference, Iran has launched over 500 ballistic missiles (including approximately 200 long-range missiles against Israel and approximately 300 medium-range missiles against Gulf countries, according to our estimates) and over 2,000 drones.

Also interesting is the confirmation of the ‘division of labor’ between Israel and the United States: the former focused on SEAD/DEAD missions in northwestern Iran and targets located between the Iraqi border and Tehran, as well as on the elimination of political-military leadership; while the Americans struck mainly along the coastal strip and in southern Iran, targeting launchers, missile bases, command and control centers, and the aforementioned naval capabilities.

Also noteworthy are the statements regarding the coordination of operations between the US and Israel, with liaison officers from both countries present in each other's decision-making and C2 centers and constant communication between the CENTCOM commander and the Israeli chief of staff.

In addition, starting today (day 4), the USAF has begun to use stand-in munitions such as JDAM bombs of various weight classes against targets throughout Iran:

the switch to stand-in munitions, as pointed out by Caine and Hegseth, will allow for a significant increase in accuracy and, above all, in the number of attacks, given the much larger arsenal compared to the few and expensive stand-off weapons.