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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Gen. Caine: Iran Attack Repelled in 'Largest Single Patriot Engagement'

2025-06-27

[NEWSMAX] The U.S. military, engaging in the "largest single Patriot engagement" in its history, was able to successfully repel Iran's retaliatory strikes on the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar this week, Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said during a press conference Thursday.

After receiving warnings that Al Udeid would be hit following the United States's strikes on three Iranian nuclear facility sites, a "minimum force posture" was adopted, meaning that most people left the base, "except for a very few" U.S. Army soldiers.

"At that point, only two Patriot batteries remained on base," Caine said. "Roughly 44 American soldiers were responsible for defending the entire base to include Centcom forward headquarters in the Middle East and the entire air base, and all the U.S. Forces there. The oldest soldier was a 28-year-old captain. The youngest was a 21-year-old private who'd been in the military for less than two years."

Iran launched its attack at about 7:30 p.m. local time, firing "round after round of Patriot missiles," said Caine.

Caine also gave extensive information about the Iranian nuclear target sites, calling them the "culmination of those 15 years of incredible work."

He would not offer an assessment of the strike's success, telling reporters that those duties are carried out by the intelligence community, "We know that the trailing jets saw the first weapons function, and the pilots stated, 'This was the brightest explosion that I've ever seen. It literally looked like daylight.'"

"In the case of Fordo, the team understood with a high degree of confidence the elements of the target required to kill its functions, and the weapons were designed, planned and delivered to ensure that they achieve the effects in the mission space," said Caine.

He further noted that in the days before the attack against the Fordo mountain facility, the Iranians tried to cover the shafts at Fordo with concrete to prevent an attack.

Because satellite photos haven’t been a thing for decades, analysis of a time sequence is not even to be conceived of.

He also showed a video of the mission space and said that all six weapons at each vent "went exactly where they were intended to go."

Caine later added, in response to a reporter's question, that he has been under no pressure from the Trump administration concerning his reporting of the nuclear facility attacks.

Posted by:Besoeker

#1 Joint Chiefs chair spotlights 44 heroes who defended US base from Iran missile attack: 'Absolutely crushed it'

Posted by: Skidmark 2025-06-27 00:12

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