The United States military has used its long-range Precision Strike Missile in combat for the first time during Operation Epic Fury, according to the head of United States Central Command, Admiral Brad Cooper. He said the weapon provides an unrivaled deep strike capability and praised service members for leveraging innovation to challenge enemy forces.

As part of the ongoing operation, United States forces have struck or sunk more than 20 Iranian naval vessels since Saturday. Among them was a Soleimani-class warship that was destroyed Tuesday night, a vessel Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth described as the jewel of Iran's navy.

Hegseth linked the destruction of the ship to the 2020 strike in Baghdad that killed Qasem Soleimani, the former leader of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force, during the first administration of President Donald Trump. The operation marks a significant escalation in maritime and long-range strike actions against Iranian forces.