Iran announced on Friday that it had shot down an American fighter jet, according to Iranian media. It would be an F15E. While a race against time is underway to recover the crew, one of the two members has been rescued, CBS News reported in the late afternoon. The other is still missing on Friday night.
According to a police statement relayed by television, the aircraft was reportedly targeted while flying over central Iran before being shot down in the province of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, in the west of the country. US officials confirmed the loss of the aircraft to the New York Times.
Intensive searches to find the pilots
Many images are circulating this Friday of a US Air Force HC-130J aircraft, as well as HH-60 Pave Hawk search and rescue helicopters, conducting search operations in the area.
The Iranian authorities announced that they would offer a reward for the capture of the crew, as stated by Iranian State TV. “If you capture the enemy pilot or pilots alive and hand them over to the police and armed forces, you will receive a generous reward,” the police indicated in the message broadcast.
Images of fighter jet debris on social media
Several images of aircraft debris on the ground, as well as an ejection seat, have been circulating since Friday morning on social media. While they appear to correspond to remnants of an F-15E Strike Eagle, it was initially difficult to authenticate them, with some analysts warning of the risk of staging, and the possibility of recycling images of F-15s mistakenly shot down by Kuwait at the start of the conflict. The situation was even more confusing as an Iranian spokesperson had announced the shooting down of an American F-35, which was denied by the US Central Command for the Middle East (Centcom).
Axios media announced in the afternoon that an F-15 had indeed been hit, although it cannot be ruled out that an F-15 has indeed crashed in Iran without being shot down. Contacted by AFP, Centcom did not immediately respond. If confirmed, this would be the first time since the beginning of the conflict that an American fighter jet has been shot down by enemy fire. An F-35 had been hit on March 19, but the pilot, injured, was able to land at an American base in the region.
Based on one of the images circulated on social media this Friday, it appears that the aircraft comes from the 494th Fighter Squadron, based in Lakenheath, England. Since October 2023, the F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft of the 494th Fighter Squadron have been deployed to the Central Command to enhance aerial operations throughout the Middle East. This squadron is part of the units engaged by Centcom for the Epic Fury exercise.
