How downed jets show a critical vulnerability for the US as Iran war rages on

One crew member from a US fighter jet shot down over Iran has been rescued by US forces, multiple news outlets reported on Friday (Apr 6), citing two US officials, while a second crew member remains missing.

A separate US aircraft was also hit near the Strait of Hormuz, though its pilot was rescued safely, according to the reports.

Iran on Friday claimed to have shot down an American fighter jet, releasing photos of apparent wreckage of an F-15E, while the United States reportedly launched a search-and-rescue operation for the crew.

The US military did not immediately confirm or deny the reports.

A second US combat plane, an A-10 Warthog, also went down near the Strait of Hormuz, and the pilot was rescued safely, according to separate reports from the New York Times and Iranian state media.

If the F-15E incident is confirmed, it would mark the first time a US fighter jet has been shot down in combat during the war with Iran since Operation Epic Fury began on February 28.

The Iranian armed forces initially claimed it was an F-35 brought down by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ air defence system.

However, the pictures from the crash site show debris belonging to an F-15E, with distinctive signs identified as aircraft assigned to the 494th Fighter Squadron at RAF Lakenheath in England, according to military site TWZ.com.

This unit has been deployed to the US Central Command for Operation Epic Fury.

If the plane involved was indeed a twin-seat F-15E, that would suggest there were two crew members on board. Two US officials told multiple news outlets that one of them had been rescued, though the other was still missing.

Iranian media shared online images appearing to show American aircraft, including helicopters, transport planes and drones, flying over the country’s rural province of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, about 500km southwest of Tehran and over 200km east of the Iraq border.

Unverified online photos showed a US HC-130 search and rescue aircraft and HH-60G helicopter in flight, while open-source flight tracking data indicated that a US KC-46 aerial refuelling tanker loitered over the Persian Gulf for an extended period.

The Iranian authorities have urged the nomadic people and villagers living in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province to cooperate with the military and local police on the manhunt by handing over downed American pilots alive to security agencies to “receive a precious prize”, AP reported.

DOWNING OF PLANE "NOT SURPRISING"

If Iran were to find the missing pilot alive before the US rescue teams, it would “definitely” exert enormous pressure and have serious consequences for the Trump administration, much like the Iran hostage crisis in 1979, according to Chinese military observer Song Zhongping.

However, the downing of the plane itself is “not surprising”, Song said. “War is inherently a game of consumption of weapons and equipment. Any hardware should be treated as expendable.”

Military analyst Fu Qianshao said Operation Epic Fury so far has demonstrated clear strengths of the US military, including surprise attacks and precision decapitation strikes. However, he added that the operation also exposed a critical vulnerability: poor defensive capacity.

“The US bases deployed across the Middle East have essentially all come under attack, and the aircraft carrier has been forced to withdraw 1,000km,” said the former Chinese air force officer.

“This shows that while the US possesses formidable offensive capabilities, its defensive capability remains insufficient.”

This article was first published on SCMP