On Tuesday, February 3, 2026, as reported by the defense outlet USNI News, citing a spokesperson for the United States Central Command (CENTCOM), a Lockheed Martin F-35C Lightning II multirole fighter operated by the United States Marine Corps (USMC) shot down an Iranian Shahed-139 uncrewed aerial vehicle over the Arabian Sea after it approached a carrier strike group led by the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72). The news was first reported earlier by the Reuters.
Photo: US DoD
As initially reported, a decision was made to shoot down the intruder after it aggressively approached the U.S. aircraft carrier and its intentions were deemed unclear.
“An F-35C from Abraham Lincoln shot down the Iranian drone in self-defense and to protect the aircraft carrier and personnel on board. The Iranian drone continued to fly toward the ship despite de-escalatory actions taken by U.S. forces operating in international waters,” said Capt. Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson for United States Central Command (CENTCOM). He added that no U.S. service members were injured and no U.S. equipment was damaged.
According to Iran’s Tasnim news agency, contact with the uncrewed aircraft was lost over international waters, although the cause remains unknown.
USS Abraham Lincoln was operating approximately 500 miles off Iran’s southern coast when the Shahed-139 drone approached the carrier and was ultimately shot down by an F-35C. The fifth-generation aircraft belonged to Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 314 “Black Knights” (VMFA-314) of the United States Marine Corps. VMFA-314 has been the first USMC unit to operate the F-35C since June 2019.
According to CENTCOM, the shootdown of the Shahed-139 followed a separate incident in which Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN; Sepāh-e Pāsdārān-e Enqelâb-e Eslâmī’) attempted to seize a U.S.-flagged tanker transiting the Strait of Hormuz. As reported, two IRGCN boats, supported by a Mohajer uncrewed aircraft, approached the fuel tanker M/T Stena Imperative and threatened to board and take control of the vessel.
M/T Stena Imperative was chartered by the Naval Fleet Auxiliary Force (NFAF) of the U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command (MSC) in August 2025 and is operated by the Swedish company Stena Bulk.
Responding to the attempted boarding, the U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer USS McFaul (DDG-74), an Arleigh Burke Flight II–class ship operating in the Persian Gulf since January 5 outside the Lincoln carrier strike group, intervened and escorted the threatened vessel. U.S. Air Force aircraft, likely operating from Qatar, were also launched.
The carrier strike group led by USS Abraham Lincoln entered the Arabian Sea on January 26 amid increasing U.S. pressure on Iran following the violent suppression of protests inside the country. Four days later, CENTCOM, responding to Iranian exercises in the Persian Gulf, warned Tehran against any attempts at escalation and emphasized the conduct of maneuvers in accordance with international law.
The downed Shahed-139 is a MALE-class (Medium Altitude Long Endurance) uncrewed aerial system, an evolution of the older Shahed-129, and is widely regarded as a copy of the U.S. GA-ASI MQ-1 Predator. It is worth recalling that on June 8 and June 20, 2017, U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft shot down two Shahed-129 drones in Syria, then operated by the regime of Bashar al-Assad. Iran has also produced a copy of the MQ-9A Reaper, designated Kaman-22.