An American F-15E fighter jet was downed over Iran, U.S. officers confirmed Friday, and a search and rescue effort is ongoing, sources stated.
The F-15E is flown by a two-member crew.
Earlier Friday, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard claimed it shot down a U.S. fighter jet over the center of the nation.
Images and video had been circulating on social media, shared by Iranian state information shops, suggesting no less than one U.S. C-130 plane and two Black Hawk helicopters had been noticed flying low over central and southwest Iran in what was described as a potential effort to find and get better the crew.
CBS Information reported earlier this week that the U.S. army had misplaced no less than 16 MQ-9 Reaper drones over Iran because the conflict started, and three U.S. F-15 fighter jets had been shot down over Kuwait in a “pleasant hearth incident” early within the battle, however there have been no casualties.
The downing of the jet Friday comes after repeated assertions by President Trump, Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth and army commanders of U.S. air superiority that largely disadvantaged Iran of assault capabilities and air defenses in the course of the conflict.
“Now in our fifth week of the marketing campaign, it’s my operational evaluation that we’re making simple progress. We do not see their navy crusing. We do not see their plane flying, and their air and missile protection techniques have largely been destroyed,” CENTCOM Commander Adm. Brad Cooper stated Thursday.
An area affiliate of Iran’s state TV channel stated Friday a prize being supplied for anybody capable of “seize the enemy pilot or pilots alive and hand them over to the police.”
The Related Press stated the TV broadcast included a written message urging viewers to shoot at any U.S. plane seen flying overhead.
