Gulf of Oman — The opening salvo was numbers, not words: 60 Iranian missiles lifting off almost simultaneously from hidden coastal batteries and inland launch trucks, all arcing toward a single prize — a U.S. aircraft carrier and its escorting warships.

Aboard the carrier strike group, alarms erupted as radar screens filled with inbound tracks. Aegis cruisers and destroyers snapped into full defensive mode, firing wave after wave of SM‑2, SM‑6 and ESSM interceptors. For minutes, the sky became a lethal lattice of contrails and fireballs as missiles met missiles in supersonic collisions high above the dark sea.

But Iran’s planners had studied the playbook. Mixed among the standard ballistic and cruise missiles were maneuvering warheads and sea‑skimmers flying just meters above the waves, timed to arrive as U.S. magazines began to empty. Two warheads detonated close enough to rock the carrier, shredding radar panels and injuring dozens of sailors; a nearby destroyer took glancing damage that left its deck scarred and one engine offline.

Then came the turn. Once launch sites and command nodes were geolocated, the U.S. answer was immediate: Tomahawk salvos, B‑1 bombers from distant bases, and F‑35s punching through the battered air‑defence grid to hammer Iranian missile brigades, radar hubs and coastal depots. Drone footage later showed entire launch complexes reduced to smoking craters.

In just 47 minutes, the engagement rewrote every simulation: carrier groups proved they could survive massed salvos — but only just — and Iran learned that firing 60 missiles might damage a fleet, yet cost it a generation of its strike force in return.