Update: US says it destroys Iranian drone “threatening” navy warship

US President Donald Trump said on 18 July the US Navy Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Boxer (LHD 4) destroyed an Iranian drone earlier that day that was threatening the ship in the Strait of Hormuz.

USS Boxer is seen transiting the Strait of Hormuz with the LMADIS counter-UAV system deployed on its deck. USS Harpers Ferry , another member of the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group, and expeditionary sea base ship USS Lewis B Puller can be seen in the background. (Lance Cpl Dalton Swanbeck / 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit)

“The Boxer took defensive action against an Iranian drone, which had closed into a very, very near distance, approximately 1,000 yards, ignoring multiple calls to stand down and was threatening the safety of the ship and the ship’s crew,” Trump said. “The drone was immediately destroyed.”

“This is the latest of many provocative and hostile actions by Iran against vessels operating in international waters,” he added. “The United States reserves the right to defend our personnel, our facilities, and interests, and calls upon all nations to condemn Iran’s attempts to disrupt freedom of navigation and global commerce. I also call on other nations to protect their ships as they go through the strait and to work with us in the future.”

The Pentagon confirmed the confrontation but did not acknowledge the unmanned aerial vehicle᾿s (UAV’s) destruction.

“At approximately 1000 local time, the amphibious ship USS Boxer was in international waters conducting a planned inbound transit of the Strait of Hormuz,” Pentagon spokesperson Jonathan Hoffman said in a statement. “A fixed-wing unmanned aerial system [UAS] approached Boxer