US shoots down Iranian drone near USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier
US service members and all the equipment aboard the ship remained safe
February 04, 2026
The United States (U.S.) announced that it shot down an Iranian drone that it said "aggressively approached a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier with unclear intent” on Tuesday, February 3, 2026.
In an interview with Fox News, a U.S. Central Command (Centcom) Spokesperson, Capt. Tim Hawkins, said, “An Iranian Shahed-139 drone was manoeuvring unnecessarily toward the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) when it was transiting approximately 500 miles away from Iran’s southern coast.”
He added that despite several warnings and de-escalatory measures, the drone continued moving toward the ship, prompting officials to deploy an F-35C fighter jet and shoot down the drone in self-defence.
Hawkins said that U.S. service members and all the equipment aboard the ship remained safe during the incident.
He claimed that in a separate incident, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) harassed the crew of a U.S. flagged merchant ship and threatened to seize the vessel.
U.S. military’s guided-missile destroyer USS McFaul (DDG 74) responded to the scene with defensive support from the U.S. Air Force, which de-escalated the situation and now “the U.S.-flagged tanker in proceeding safely”.
The incidents come amid growing tensions between the two countries.
However, the two sides have recently agreed to engage diplomatically, with meetings potentially taking place in Istanbul on Friday, February 6, 2026.
