US helps Israel shoot down barrage of Iranian missiles
[June 14, 2025]
By TARA COPP and LOLITA C. BALDOR
WASHINGTON (AP) — American air defense systems and a Navy destroyer
helped Israel shoot down incoming ballistic missiles Friday that Tehran
launched in response to Israeli strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities and
top military leaders, U.S. officials said.
The U.S. has both ground-based Patriot missile defense systems and
Terminal High Altitude Air Defense systems in the Middle East capable of
intercepting ballistic missiles, which Iran fired in multiple barrages
in retaliation for Israel's initial attack.
A Navy destroyer in the eastern Mediterranean Sea also shot down Iranian
missiles heading toward Israel, one official said.
The United States also is shifting military resources, including ships,
in the Middle East in response to the strikes.
The Navy directed the destroyer USS Thomas Hudner, which is capable of
defending against ballistic missiles, to begin sailing from the western
Mediterranean Sea toward the eastern Mediterranean and has directed a
second destroyer to begin moving forward so it can be available if
requested by the White House, U.S. officials said.
American fighter jets also are patrolling the sky in the Middle East to
protect personnel and installations, and air bases in the region are
taking additional security precautions, the officials said.
The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide details not
yet made public or to discuss ongoing operations.
President Donald Trump met with his National Security Council principals
Friday to discuss options.
The forces in the region have been taking precautionary measures for
days, including having military dependents voluntarily depart regional
bases, in anticipation of the strikes and to protect personnel in case
of a large-scale response from Tehran.
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The future USS Thomas Hudner, a U.S. Navy destroyer named after
Korean War veteran Thomas Hudner, during christening ceremony at
Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine, April 1, 2017. The ship was
commissioned, Dec. 1, 2018 in Boston. (AP Photo/Mary Schwalm, File)
Typically around 30,000 troops are based in the Middle East, and
about 40,000 troops are in the region now, according to a U.S.
official. That number surged as high as 43,000 last October amid the
ongoing tensions between Israel and Iran as well as continuous
attacks on commercial and military ships in the Red Sea by the
Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen.
The Navy has additional assets that it could surge to the Middle
East if needed, particularly its aircraft carriers and the warships
that sail with them. The USS Carl Vinson is in the Arabian Sea — the
only aircraft carrier in the region.
The carrier USS Nimitz is in the Indo-Pacific and could be directed
toward the Middle East if needed, and the USS George Washington just
left its port in Japan and could also be directed to the region if
so ordered, one of the officials said.
Then-President Joe Biden initially surged ships to protect Israel, a
close U.S. ally, following the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas that
launched the war in Gaza. It was seen as a deterrent against
Hezbollah and Iran at the time.
On Oct. 1, 2024, U.S. Navy destroyers fired about a dozen
interceptors in defense of Israel as the country came under attack
by more than 200 missiles fired by Iran.
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