A Wall Street Journal report published this week revealed some new details about Iran’s missile and drone campaign against one of America’s most important military headquarters. The revelations include suggestions that Washington may not have been entirely honest about the scale of the damage done by Iranian strikes.
According to the report, repeated Iranian strikes damaged the headquarters of the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet at Naval Support Activity Bahrain, as well as more than a dozen other buildings and two satellite communications systems.
German soldiers assigned to Surface Air and Missile Defense Wing 1 fire the Patriot weapons system at the NATO Missile Firing Installation (NAMFI) during Artemis Strike Nov. 7 in Chania, Greece. Artemis Strike is a German-led multinational air defense exercise. German soldiers Over 200 U.S. soldiers and approximately 650 German airmen will be participating in the realistic training within a combined construct, exercise the rigors associated with force projection and educate operators on their air missile defense systems. (Photo By Officer Candidate Sebastian Apel, Air Defence Missile Group 24)
While no American personnel were killed during the strikes – largely because the troops had already been dispersed – the attack exposes potential vulnerabilities that have been recognized by planners preparing for the next move in the Middle East and potential future scenarios in the Indo-Pacific.
Iran Attacks the Fifth Fleet
Naval Support Activity Bahrain is located in Manama and serves as the headquarters for the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet and U.S. Naval Forces Central Command. The installation oversees American naval operations throughout the Red Sea, Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea, and surrounding waters – and for that reason and others, it is one of the most important overseas bases run by the United States.
When the Iran War began in February, Tehran quickly identified the facility as a high-priority target.
It was within reach and valuable, and instead of launching a single retaliatory strike, Iranian forces sought to put pressure on the U.S. by mounting a sustained, constant attack.
Iranian cruise missiles and one-way attack drones have been launched at the facility on a regular basis since the war began, seeking to overwhelm American air defenses through the sheer volume of projectiles used.
The attacks were, of course, just one part of Iran’s campaign against U.S. military installations throughout the region as Washington sought to degrade the country’s missile capabilities and destroy its nuclear facilities.
U.S. forces carried out thousands of strikes against Iranian targets. Iran used the largest arsenal of missiles in the Middle East to raise the cost of U.S. intervention and prove it could repeatedly reach heavily defended U.S. facilities.
While most of the strikes were intercepted by American Patriot missiles and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) systems, the sheer number of strikes means that not every single projectile was stopped.
According to the Wall Street Journal report, several missiles penetrated American defenses and damaged more than a dozen structures.
Protecting People Over Structures
According to the Wall Street Journal piece, American commanders adjusted their priorities as Iranian attacks on the base intensified.
Rather than attempting to defend every building when the likelihood of a missile slipping through the defensive screen was fairly high, commanders sought to disperse personnel and shift operations elsewhere.
That strategy reduced the risk to American service members and critical assets even as infrastructure came under attack.
CENTCOM spokesman Capt. Tim Hawkins said that throughout the war, “Centcom rightfully prioritized the protection of people over buildings, and our strategy of protecting people worked.”
“Iran shot more than 8,000 missiles and drones, and only two hits resulted in U.S. fatalities,” Hawkins also said.
Other Revelations
The same report also revealed how the U.S. military is now considering a major revamp of the base in Bahrain, with changes that would also include reducing the U.S. presence in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
Planners are also reportedly considering moving some bases or base functions further from Iran to prevent it from reaching critical infrastructure with missiles and drones.
The outlet cited sources familiar with the ongoing deliberations.
Those same sources also revealed how structures that were attacked by Iran may not be rebuilt, and that command and control nodes may be moved underground to protect them from future strikes.
Among the countries being considered for new bases to replace part of the Bahrain facility’s functions is Israel, according to two officials.
What Now
The changes believed to be under consideration are by no means novel; this is a strategy militaries have long employed, and one that is already playing out across the U.S. military.
For years, the Pentagon has been adapting to the threat of growing adversarial power – particularly, China’s large and growing missile arsenal in the Indo-Pacific.
The Air Force’s Agile Combat Employment (ACE) strategy reflects this: the scheme involves dispersing aircraft, personnel, infrastructure, and logistics across multiple smaller locations rather than concentrating them at a handful of large, permanent bases.
Large bases are a greater risk as adversarial power grows.
Rather than attempting to make every major installation impenetrable – which is costly and carries the risk of that expense being wasted when a strike does hit – the U.S. is focusing on ensuring that no single strike can seriously disrupt American operations. After Iran, it’s clear that this strategy is now necessary outside of the Indo-Pacific.
About the Author: Jack Buckby
Jack Buckby is a British researcher and analyst specializing in defense and national security, based in New York. His work focuses on military capability, procurement, and strategic competition, producing and editing analysis for policy and defense audiences. He brings extensive editorial experience, with a career output spanning over 1,000 articles at 19FortyFive and National Security Journal, and has previously authored books and papers on extremism and deradicalization.
