In the tense waters of the Persian Gulf, Iran’s IRGC has long threatened to overwhelm U.S. aircraft carriers with a mᴀssive swarm of 50+ heavily armed speedboats. It’s a classic asymmetric warfare tactic designed to look intimidating. But for the USS Abraham Lincoln and its Carrier Strike Group, it’s a scenario they are built to defeat with brutal efficiency. Here’s how the U.S. Navy turns this threat into a turkey shoot.

Phase 1: Detection (Hundreds of Miles Out) The battle begins long before the swarm is visible. An E-2D Advanced Hawkeye, the “eyes of the fleet,” circles high above, its powerful radar detecting the small boats forming up from over 200 miles away. Satellites and drones provide constant updates, painting a clear picture of the enemy’s intent. The swarm is tracked, identified, and targeted before it even knows it has been seen.

Phase 2: Disruption (Electronic Chaos) Before a single sH๏τ is fired, the swarm is broken. EA-18G Growler electronic attack jets unleash a powerful barrage of jamming, instantly severing the boats’ communications, GPS, and radar. The coordinated attack dissolves into a chaotic mess of 50 isolated, blind, and confused targets, unable to talk to each other or find their primary objective.

Phase 3: Annihilation from the Air (Steel Rain) This is where the real destruction begins. MH-60R Seahawk helicopters, the Navy’s premier “boat killers,” descend on the scattered swarm. Armed with Hellfire missiles, laser-guided rockets, and heavy machine guns, they pick off the speedboats one by one with ruthless precision. F/A-18 Super Hornets can also join the fray, delivering devastating blows from above. The water boils as explosions rip through the attacking force.

Phase 4: The Final Wall (Close-In Defense) For any boat that miraculously survives the air ᴀssault and gets close, a final wall of steel awaits. The carrier and its escort destroyers unleash their Phalanx CIWS — radar-guided Gatling guns that fire 4,500 rounds per minute. SeaRAM missiles lock onto any remaining threats, while sailors man .50 caliber machine guns, ensuring nothing gets through.

The outcome is always the same: the swarm is annihilated, the carrier remains untouched, and American naval dominance is reaffirmed.