Iran Fires Al-Qadr Missile at US Aircraft Carrier in Strait of Hormuz — 9-Minute American Retaliation

In the early hours of a tense morning, the Strait of Hormuz became the focal point of a significant military confrontation.

At 5:47 a.m. local time, a Khalij Fars anti-ship ballistic missile launched from a camouflaged transporter erector launcher hidden within an irrigation tunnel, 11 miles northeast of Bandar Abbas.

The missile’s booster ignited, propelling it into the gray pre-dawn sky at speeds exceeding Mach 3—three times the speed of sound.

Its target: the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier displacing 97,000 tons, currently steaming 40 nautical miles south of the Iranian coastline.

The missile, costing Iran approximately $3 million, was aimed at a ship valued at $8.3 billion in 1980s dollars—roughly $15 billion today when adjusted for inflation.

The Khalij Fars is not a cruise missile; it follows a steep ballistic trajectory, climbing to 100,000 feet before diving toward its target at incredible speeds.

The entire flight from launch to impact takes under three minutes, and Iran’s state media has dubbed it the “carrier killer.”

However, the missile is a modified Fate 110 short-range ballistic missile equipped with an electro-optical seeker, allowing it to home in on the infrared signature of a ship.

At 5:47 a.m., three miles off the Eisenhower’s starboard beam, the USS Gettysburg, a Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser, detected the launch on her Aegis radar six seconds after ignition.

The SPY1 radar, designed during the Cold War to detect Soviet cruise missiles, easily classified the missile as a tactical ballistic threat.

By 5:48 a.m., the Gettysburg launched two SM-3 Block 2A interceptors, each costing $36 million, designed to destroy ballistic missiles in the exo-atmosphere through kinetic impact alone.

However, what the crew of the Gettysburg did not know was that this missile was not alone.

Nine seconds after the first missile launched, a second Khalij Fars missile fired from a separate site, followed by a third, and then four more from buried launchers near Jask, resulting in a total of seven anti-ship ballistic missiles in the air.

Among these missiles was an IMOD, a liquid-fueled medium-range ballistic missile with a high-explosive warhead that added complexity to the interception effort.

As the tactical action officer aboard the USS Baton, an amphibious ᴀssault ship nearby, watched the incoming tracks, he realized his ship was ill-equipped to defend against such a threat.

The first two SM-3 interceptors reached their intercept points at 5:49:14 a.m., successfully destroying the first two Khalij Fars missiles at alтιтudes of 87,000 and 91,000 feet.

But the Gettysburg was running out of SM-3 missiles, having already fired four of its limited stock.

By 5:49:31 a.m., the third and fourth Khalij Fars missiles were also destroyed, bringing the total to four successful intercepts.

However, the fifth missile, the IMOD, had separated, complicating the task for the Gettysburg’s fire control systems.

At 5:50 a.m., the fire controlman directed the remaining SM-3 to intercept the IMOD’s warhead, achieving a clean kill.

Yet, the sixth and seventh Khalij Fars missiles were still en route.

The Gettysburg fired its last two SM-3 Block 2A interceptors, but the seventh missile managed to evade, missing the intercept by a mere 11 feet.

This missile, however, was now in the engagement zone of a different weapon system entirely.

The USS Arleigh Burke, a guided missile destroyer, had been tracking the descending Khalij Fars missile and prepared to engage it with its SM-6 missiles.

The SM-6, a dual-purpose weapon capable of engaging aircraft and ballistic missiles, was launched at the incoming threat.

The first SM-6 intercepted the missile at 19,000 feet, damaging its guidance system and causing it to tumble.

Though it did not explode, the missile lost its trajectory and fell into the water 900 meters northeast of the carrier, impacting the surface at approximately 1,070 mph.

The resulting explosion sent a column of water into the air, with fragments striking the Eisenhower’s hull but causing no significant damage.

The entire engagement lasted just under four minutes, with Iran’s salvo of missiles costing an estimated $25 million and resulting in minimal damage to the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Despite the intensity of the attack, the Eisenhower’s airwing continued flight operations uninterrupted.

Within minutes, FA-18 Super Hornets were airborne, ready to respond to the attack.

The IRGC had planned for a counterstrike window, ᴀssuming that the carrier would be incapacitated or engaged in damage control.

However, the U.S. response was swift and effective, with aircraft already preparing to hunt down the launchers that had fired on them.

At 5:58 a.m., 11 minutes after the first missile launched, two F/A-18F Super Hornets took off from the Eisenhower, armed with precision-guided munitions.

The Iranian launchers, having executed their displacement drill, believed they were safe, but an MQ-9 Reaper drone had been monitoring their movements for days.

As the Super Hornets approached, the Reaper tracked the launchers and marked their coordinates for the strike.

At 6:07 a.m., the first pair of Super Hornets released their glide bombs, which flew silently toward their targets, evading detection by Iranian air defenses.

The JSOWs deployed their bomblets, damaging access roads and blocking the launchers’ escape routes.

In just a few minutes, Iran’s anti-ship ballistic missile capability was effectively eliminated, with the entire operation costing a fraction of what it took to launch the initial attack.

By 6:20 a.m., the strait was quiet once more, with the Eisenhower continuing its operations as if nothing had happened.

The IRGC’s operational commander was left to explain to his superiors how a well-planned missile attack resulted in the total destruction of his launch capabilities and minimal impact on the U.S. Navy.

The engagement demonstrated the effectiveness of U.S. military technology and response protocols, revealing that Iran’s costly missile salvo had ultimately failed to achieve its objectives.

As the Eisenhower’s captain filed his after-action report, the incident served as a stark reminder of the risks and challenges of modern naval warfare.

In the world of military strategy, the math does not favor Iran.