US F-15E jet confirmed shot down over Iran as Tehran releases wreckage images | US-Israel war on Iran
The downing of a US F-15E fighter jet over Iran prompted an intense search and rescue effort for the US’s two-strong crew in the first such incident since the start of the war.
Images of tail fin and other remains Published by Iranian state media It was accompanied by the first claim early Friday that an advanced US F-35 was shot down by a new air defense system over central Iran, possibly killing the pilot.
Aviation experts said the wreckage pictured was actually an F-15E belonging to the US Air Force’s 494th squadron based at RAF Lakenheath in the United Kingdom, but it could not initially be confirmed when or where the pictures were taken.
U.S. officials familiar with the situation later confirmed off the record that an F-15E had been shot down and that the Pentagon was scrambling to locate the crew. However, there was no official statement from the US army about the incident.
Later footage from Iran showed US C-130 Hercules and HH-60 Pavehawk helicopters flying low and refueling together at one point; This was accompanied by new speculation that Iran’s aircrew might have jumped and survived.
Aviation expert Justin Bronk of the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi) said the use of specialist helicopters “indicated that a combat search and rescue mission was underway to locate and extract the two aircrew from the F-15E”.
A social media account claiming to be affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, ejection seat in desert landscapeIt turned out to be consistent with the ACES II type used on F-15Es. “If real, that would mean at least one of the two aircrews was evacuated safely,” Bronk added.
The presenter of an Iranian television channel called on citizens to hand over any “enemy pilot” to the police and promised a reward to anyone who did so.
Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported that the pilot of the jet, still incorrectly identified as an F-35, had been detained; This contradicts Tehran’s initial claim that the pilot probably died in the incident.
The US Central Command, which directed the attack against Iran, denied Iran’s claims that another F-35 plane was shot down over Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz throughout the night. “All US warplanes are taken into account” he said then.
No US warplanes have been lost over Iran so far during the five-week conflict, but three F-15Es were shot down by Kuwaiti air defenses in a friendly fire incident on March 1.
It was reported that an F-35 fighter jet had to make an emergency landing at a US air base in the Middle East after being damaged from the ground. A US E-3 Sentry air warning and control system aircraft was destroyed in an Iranian attack at the Prince Sultan air base in Saudi Arabia on March 27.
