A single-seat A-10 Warthog was flying close air support for a rescue mission over Iran on Friday, April 3, when Iranian fire hit it. The jet did not make it home.
The rescue was needed because Iran had shot down an F-15E Strike Eagle, a two-seater. U.S. forces recovered one of its two crew members; the other was still missing, according to NBC News and ABC News, which cited U.S. officials.
Where it came down
A U.S. official told ABC the jet took the hit over Iranian territory and came down in Kuwait, and the pilot was picked up. NBC reported that the pilot ejected safely. Reuters, as relayed by IDNFinancials, quoted a U.S. official saying the aircraft “was hit by Iranian fire and crashed over Kuwait”. That puts the crash in Kuwaiti airspace, not on Iranian soil.
Two Black Hawks working the search were hit as well. ABC said some crew members were injured, and both aircraft made it back to base. NBC’s source said no crew member was hurt.
Why it stands out
NBC called the F-15E loss the first time in decades that an American fighter had gone down in combat, and said it undercuts claims from the Pentagon and the White House that Iran’s missile capability was wiped out. ABC said it was the first manned American aircraft Iran had brought down in a war that began in February.
ABC explained that combat rescue missions had become uncommon for U.S. forces, who spent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with almost no air threat. Iran offered locals a reward worth $60,000 for finding the missing American, NBC said, though officials in a southern province and the Revolutionary Guard denied that the airman had been caught. Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf posted on X that Washington and Israel had gone from seeking regime change to hunting for their own pilots.
ABC also recalled that earlier in the war an F-35 was forced into an emergency landing after Iranian fire struck it, and that three F-15s fell over Kuwait in an incident of friendly fire, and all six pilots got out by ejecting.
Sources
- 2 US jets downed by Iranian fire; search and rescue mission underway (ABC News)
- Search Enters 2nd Day for US Airman After Jet Shot Down in Iran (NBC News)
- After downing F-15E, Iran shoots down A-10 Warthog, hunts third pilot (Reuters via IDNFinancials)
