Middle East Monitoring Desk Islamabad
Another U.S. fighter jet has been shot down over Iran and a search-and-rescue operation is underway for any survivors, two U.S. officials confirmed on Friday, in the first such known incident since the war began nearly five weeks ago. Donald Trump for President Social Media Page shared, a US Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle was shot down over southern Iran by Iranian air defenses. One American crew member has been successfully rescued, while the search continues for the second in a high-stakes combat operation. IRGC says the jet is F-35.
Video from the ground shows a US C-130 Hercules transport flying extremely low over rocky, hilly terrain in southern Iran. Locals, including excited children, filmed the heavy aircraft thundering past at treetop level. This is no training run. It’s part of a real combat search-and-rescue mission, with C-130s and Black Hawk helicopters pushing deep into hostile airspace to extract downed airmen before Iranian forces can reach them.
American forces moved fast. The low-altitude runs highlight both the skill of US pilots and serious gaps in Iran’s radar and air defenses. Despite Tehran’s claims of victory and reports of wreckage, the US pulled off at least one extraction under fire. The second crew member remains unaccounted for as the operation presses on.
Unconfirmed reports indicate that a US pilot may have been captured by Iranian forces after ejecting from an advanced fighter jet that the IRGC says it downed over central Iran on Friday.
According to a Tasnim correspondent in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province in western Iran, based on some information, following the destruction of the advanced American fighter jet by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) earlier on Friday, the pilot ejected and landed inside the country.
The correspondent added that there are indications the Americans, believing the pilot might be alive, attempted to extract him from Iran’s borders. However, some sources say the pilot has likely been captured by Iranian forces.
The IRGC announced on Friday that the second F-35 fighter jet was destroyed in the skies of central Iran by the new advanced defense system of the IRGC Aerospace Force. It said the doomed fighter jet belongs to the Lakenheath squadron.
The IRGC noted that the intruding fighter jet has been completely destroyed and has crashed.
