Centcom commander touts use of AI in fight against Iran during Operation Epic Fury
Centcom commander touts use of AI in fight against Iran during Operation Epic Fury
Publish Date: 2026-03-11 14:49:00
Source Domain: defensescoop.com
Artificial intelligence tools have helped the U.S. military fight faster and smarter during Operation Epic Fury, according to the commander overseeing the war effort.
To date, American forces have hit more than 5,500 targets inside Iran, Adm. Brad Cooper, head of U.S. Central Command, said in a video released Wednesday.
“We’re on a path to eliminating Iran’s ability to threaten Americans and our friends, and we are achieving this through a combination of lethality, precision and rapid innovation,” he said, noting that warfighters are using a variety of advanced AI tools.
“These systems help us sift through vast amounts of data in seconds so our leaders can cut through the noise and make smarter decisions faster than the enemy can react. Humans will always make final decisions on what to shoot and what not to shoot and when to shoot. But advanced AI tools can turn processes that used to take hours and sometimes even days into seconds,” Cooper added.
The Centcom boss did not identify specific artificial intelligence systems that the command has employed.
The U.S. military has reportedly been using the Maven Smart System built by Palantir and Anthropic’s Claude AI technology to help with the Epic Fury campaign.
The Pentagon recently designated Anthropic as a supply chain risk after a heated dispute about terms of use for the contractor’s technology, and the company has sued the Defense Department and other federal agencies in response.
During the first 10 days of Epic Fury, which was launched Feb. 28 under the orders of President Donald Trump, Centcom has been hitting a variety of targets, including drone and ballistic missile sites, command-and-control facilities, ships, air defense systems and military communications capabilities, among others.
The campaign has also included the combat debut of new weapon systems, such as LUCAS drones and the Precision Strike Missile.
“U.S. combat power is building. Iranian…
