Operation Epic Fury
The United States and Israel launched an attacl on Iran on the morning of February 28. The Americans called it Operation Epic Fury. Israel later also attacked Lebanon. Intense combat operations lasted until April 8, when a ceasefire mediated by Pakistan came into effect. The ceasefire was still being observed at the time this issue went to press, although negotiations had not yet made any progress.
The conflict with Iran had been simmering for
several years. In April, July, and October 2024,
Israel and Iran repeatedly exchanged missile and
drone strikes. In June 2025, the U.S. Air Force
also joined in bombing Iranian nuclear facilities.
In January 2026, a wave of protests took place
in Iran, which was violently suppressed, costing
thousands of demonstrators their lives.
Perhaps the U.S. and Israel were counting
on this when they attacked on February
28, expecting regime change. The attack,
surprisingly, did not occur at night but in
daylight. The aim was to eliminate both the
political and military leadership of Iran.
This was achieved, and many leaders were killed,
including Ayatollah Khamenei and members of
the Iranian high command. However, the regime
did not collapse.
Iran responded with attacks on neighboring
countries and by closing the Strait of Hormuz,
which negatively affected the global economy.
U.S. stocks of precision-guided munitions and air
defense missiles were reduced in some cases to
less than half, and replenishing them will take
years. This will affect the war in Ukraine (especially
the shortage of missiles for Patriot systems) and
also the U.S. itself if another conflict breaks out.
At the time of writing, the situation appears
to be a stalemate, although President Trump
repeatedly (and in varying order) declares that
he won the war, crushed the Iranian army, does
not need allied help, and criticizes allies for
not helping him (even though he did not inform
them in advance of the plan to attack). Political
scientists have already covered this extensively
and will continue to do so. In the following lines,
we will briefly look at what happened in the air
and at sea during just over a month of war.
First kill for the F-35
Many Iranian aircraft were destroyed on
the ground in the initial phase of the conflict.
Drone and satellite footage showed F-4,
F-5, F-14, Chengdu J-7, Su-22, Su-24, Su-25,
Yak-130, C-130, Il-76, An-74, Fokker F27, P-3
Orion aircraft, and several helicopters. Civilian
airliners were also hit, including Fokker 100,
Airbus A320 and A340, Boeing 737, 747, and 777.
Aircraft shelters at airports were also destroyed.
Whatever was inside them did not fare well. The
question, however, is how many of the hit aircraft
were operational and how many were already out
of service or merely decoys. The Iranian Air Force
tried, especially in the first days of the war, to
actively demonstrate that it was still capable of
action. It carried out sorties into Iraq and Kuwait
without losses. Another attempted attack on
Aircraft on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) on February 27, the day before the attack on Iran.
By the end of April, three U.S. aircraft carriers were present in the region. Photo: US Navy
The destroyer USS Delbert D. Black (DDG 119) launches a Tomahawk missile at Iran on February 28.
Photo: US Navy
Miro Barič
The United States and Israel launched an attacl on Iran on the morning of February
28. The Americans called it Operation Epic Fury. Israel later also attacked Lebanon.
Intense combat operations lasted until April 8, when a ceasefire mediated by
Pakistan came into effect. The ceasefire was still being observed at the time this
issue went to press, although negotiations had not yet made any progress.
Operation Epic Fury
OPERATION EPIC FURY
INFO Eduard24
May 2026