America acknowledges the hypersonic capability of missiles to destroy its aircraft carriers… Will Iran do the same?

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stated that Chinese hypersonic missiles are capable of destroying all US aircraft carriers in just 20 minutes.

In an interview before assuming his post, Hegseth said, “Until now, aircraft carriers have been the primary platform for projecting US power and its ability to project strategic influence around the world.” However, Hegseth added that China’s 15 hypersonic missiles are “capable of destroying 10 aircraft carriers in the first 20 minutes of a conflict.”

These Chinese hypersonic capabilities are the same as those possessed by Yemen and Iran now, suggesting that the world is about to witness surprises that will fundamentally alter the international balance of power. Iran may be the key to understanding this, perhaps explaining China’s silence, which stems from its desire to prevent Trump’s recklessness and his self-inflicted destruction of American influence at sea.

Further evidence of this is Yemen’s ability to threaten American influence at sea. In April 2025, Yemeni Armed Forces spokesman Yahya Saree announced that the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier in the northern Red Sea had been targeted by a barrage of missiles and drones. US Central Command responded with a post on its official X platform, featuring a video showing drones taking off from the Harry S. Truman after the attack, implying that the ship was undamaged and ready to continue its operations. However, despite the US Navy’s denial, the Pentagon ordered the aircraft carrier to be repositioned beyond the range of Yemeni fire.

This was not the first time a US aircraft carrier had been threatened by Yemen’s increasingly sophisticated anti-ship ballistic missiles. In 2024, according to US sources, a Yemeni missile nearly struck the deck of the USS Eisenhower. US commercial and warships in the Red Sea have also been endangered since the start of the Israeli offensive on Gaza on October 7, 2023, dubbed “Operation Gaza Support Front.”

Commander Eric Blumberg of the USS Laboon described his time serving against the Yemenis as one of the most challenging periods of combat the US Navy had faced since World War II. This has led some military experts to suggest that the vulnerability to the emerging missile capabilities of a rising power like Yemen in the Gulf of Aden is a dangerous indicator, especially if the United States were to confront a more advanced adversary like Iran or China.

Tehran recently threatened to target US military bases and hinted at its ability to sink the giant aircraft carriers patrolling the waters of the Middle East, after US President Donald Trump warned of dire consequences if Iran did not reach an agreement on its nuclear program.

While the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran were negotiating in Geneva, Switzerland, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei issued a clear threat to sink the aircraft carriers that President Trump had deployed to tighten the noose around Tehran.

Khamenei’s threat stems from Tehran’s military capabilities, which former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Mark Kimmitt says it has successfully developed despite the sanctions imposed on it, and which the Americans take very seriously.

The claims of the Revolutionary Guard and the Iranian Supreme Leader regarding the possession of unknown weapons capable of striking US forces cannot be doubted. At the end of the 12-day war, Tehran unveiled missiles it had never used before.