This American Fighter Jet Has Never Lost An In-Air Battle, But Was Just Shot Down
McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle is undoubtedly one of them the most recognizable and successful American jet fighters never fly. First developed in the late 1960s and entering service in the early 1970s, the F-15 has been in use for more than 50 years and, despite its age, remains an important fighter aircraft not only for the US Air Force but for many militaries around the world.
During its decades of service, the F-15 achieved over 100 air-to-air kills and was never once lost in air-to-air combat. This is an impressive record considering how many conflicts the aircraft has participated in, and although this distinguished record still stands, it will now have an asterisk next to it. Earlier this week, it was reported that three American F-15E Strike Eagles were shot down in a friendly fire accident with a Kuwaiti F/A-18 Hornet.
The incident, which occurred during the chaotic opening stages of the Operation Epic Rage conflict with Iran, is still under investigation and fortunately did not result in any deaths or serious injuries and the crew was able to evacuate safely. Still, the incident represents one of the stranger and more significant friendly fire incidents to hit the U.S. Air Force in recent years, and will be examined closely to determine exactly what went wrong.
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Hornet beat Eagles
F-15E Strike Eagle and F/A-18 Super Hornet in flight – Ethan Miller/Getty Images
These days, when an American military aircraft goes missing, it’s usually the result of an accident or malfunction of some kind. Navy warplanes drop from aircraft carriers . These accidents could also include situations where another American or allied weapon accidentally shot down a friendly aircraft. Although rare, friendly fire also occurs. For example, in late 2024, a US Navy Super Hornet was accidentally shot down by a friendly guided missile cruiser.
But “One F/A-18 shoots down three F-15s” sounds more like a fictional battle in the “Ace Combat” video game, but it is real. Amateur video footage initially emerged of damaged F-15s falling from the sky over Kuwait, followed by footage of American pilots ejecting safely from the plane. United States Central Command later confirmed that three U.S. Air Force F-15Es were mistakenly shot down by Kuwaiti air defenses and that all six crew members on three aircraft were rescued safely.
At this time, few details have emerged about exactly how the incident unfolded, but the accidental shootings occurred in tense wartime conditions; At that time, significant Iranian drone strikes had penetrated the airspace over Kuwait. It is possible that details of the story may change once the investigation is completed, but as of now, analysis appears to support the report that all three F-15s were accidentally shot down by air-to-air fire from a single F/A-18.
Chaos and confusion in Kuwait
F-15s and F-16s over Kuwait during the Gulf War – Mpi/Getty Images
Based on video footage, analysts noted that the damage to the F-15s did not appear significant enough to be caused by larger surface-to-air weapons, and the fact that all three crewmen could eject was suggestive of tail strikes by smaller, air-to-air missiles. Whatever the case, the investigation will surely focus on how and why the F-15s were targeted in the first place and whether IFF systems worked to distinguish them as friendly aircraft on radar.
The three American aircraft shot down in the incident were F-15E Strike Eagle models. differs from the standard F-15 fighter jet in various ways to make it capable as a ground attack aircraft. As of March 3, CENTCOM confirmed that more than 200 fighter jets such as F-15 and F/A-18 were used in Operation Epic Fury, while larger bombers such as the US Air Force’s B-2 Spirit and B-52 Stratofortress were deployed against Iranian targets.
While the F-15 Eagle’s excellent air-to-air combat record would continue despite these accidental shoot-downs, a handful of F-15s have been shot down by enemy fire in the past, including during the Iraq conflicts in the ’90s and 2000s. However, these losses were due to ground weapons rather than enemy aircraft.
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