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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth acknowledged Wednesday that some Iranian drone or missile strikes may still reach their targets, even as he said the United States has moved quickly to take control of Iran’s airspace. Speaking to reporters at the Pentagon, Hegseth said U.S. forces spared “no expense or capability” to enhance air defenses to protect American forces and allies in the Middle East before expanding operations.
“This does not mean we can stop everything, but we ensured that the maximum possible defense and maximum possible force protection was set up before we went on offense,” Hegseth said, describing the approach as a prerequisite to the campaign’s early phase.
The admission came as President Donald Trump and senior defense officials warned that additional American casualties were possible in a conflict that began Saturday and could last months. The U.S. and Israel’s bombardment intensified, and Iran carried out further attacks Wednesday, according to the administration’s disclosures on a U.S. submarine torpedo strike that sank an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean.
At the same news conference, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine said U.S. service members “remain in harm’s way,” adding that “we must be clear-eyed that the risk is still high.” Caine’s comments followed an earlier day’s strike in Kuwait in which six soldiers were killed when an Iranian drone hit an operations center located in the civilian port area more than 10 miles from the main Army base, the AP report said.
Caine declined to answer a question about deploying ground troops in Iran. “I’m not going to comment on U.S. boots on the ground,” Caine said. “I think that’s a question for policymakers. And I don’t make policy, I execute policy.” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that it was “not part of the plan for this operation at this time” but said she would not remove an option for the president that is “on the table.”
Hegseth also signaled a time frame that could run longer than earlier administration expectations, saying the conflict could last eight weeks and that the U.S. has the munitions and equipment to beat Iran in a war of attrition. He said he would not set a specific range, telling reporters, “You can say four weeks, but it could be six, it could be eight, it could be three,” and adding, “Ultimately, we set the pace and the tempo. The enemy is off balance, and we’re going to keep them off balance.”
He said more American forces—including jet fighters and bombers—were arriving in the region, and he said the U.S. “will take all the time we need to make sure that we succeed.” Hegseth and Caine also said supplies of weapons were not an issue, with Hegseth saying the military used more advanced weapons at the start of the campaign and was switching to gravity bombs after it gained control of the Iranian sky.
Caine said U.S. attacks on Iranian missile sites and other offensive targets had been successful enough to allow deeper strikes inland, moving from far-launch capabilities to more traditional precision bombs dropped by aircraft. Caine also said the U.S. has “sufficient precision munitions for the task at hand, both on the offense and defense,” while saying the military would not release quantities for operational security reasons.
While the officials discussed the military posture, the administration also promoted efforts to help Americans leave the region amid missile and drone threats. The State Department said it has assisted nearly 6,500 Americans since the start of the war and said it has begun charter flights and other transportation, while Caine said the military opened up available seats on transport planes “to try to help folks get out.”
The State Department said one charter flight departed the Middle East for the U.S. on Wednesday, and that it has arranged charter aircraft from the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Israel. It also said more than 17,500 Americans had returned to the U.S. since Saturday, including more than 8,500 on Tuesday alone, while acknowledging that most returned using commercial transportation without government assistance.