When President Trump announced that the U.S. had “destroyed” an Iranian drone, he didn’t specify whether it was shot down — that's because electronic jamming technology was reportedly used to take “defensive” action.

The technology, called the Light Marine Air Defense Integrated System, was tethered to an all-terrain vehicle on board the USS Boxer, a defense department official told Military.com. The device is typically used on the ground but is now being tested on Navy ships.

Trump announced the action Thursday, saying that the drone came close to the ship in “the latest in many provocative and hostile actions by Iran against vessels operating in international waters.”

“[The USS Boxer] took defensive action against an Iranian drone,” Trump said. “It was threatening the ship and the ship's crew. The drone was immediately destroyed.”





The system, operated by the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, uses highly-sensitive radar and cameras to detect drones and distinguish them between allied and hostile devices. If it locates a threat the device uses radio frequencies to jam the drone’s link between it and where it is being controlled from.

Iran has denied the claim that its drone was shot down. Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Friday that the country had not lost a drone Thursday.

The U.S. recently announced sanctions against Iran’s supreme leader and said that it would begin sanctioning Iranian-backed Hezbollah officials in Lebanon. Last month, the U.S. planned airstrikes against Iranian facilities in response to the downing of a U.S. drone, but Trump reportedly called off the attack in the last minutes, citing possible loss of life.

(Jillian Angeline/Military Times)