A U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle was downed over Iran, and combat search and rescue efforts are underway April 3, people familiar with the matter told Air & Space Forces Magazine.
Initial U.S. indications suggest the jet was shot down.
Iran claimed to have downed a U.S. fighter overnight and posted photos purportedly showing the jet’s wreckage.
Those photos, circulated by Iranian media, appear to show wreckage from an F-15E, but they could not be immediately authenticated. U.S. Central Command and the Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The status of the jet’s two-person crew is not publicly known. Videos on social media, purportedly taken in southwestern Iran, show U.S. aircraft flying low, possibly to conduct combat search-and-rescue operations.
This would mark the first known combat loss of a U.S. manned aircraft during the conflict. A U.S. Air Force F-35 pilot suffered shrapnel wounds after their aircraft was damaged during a combat mission over Iran on March 19, but the plane was able to make an emergency landing at a U.S. air base. Three USAF F-15Es were shot down by friendly fire over Kuwait on March 2, with all six crew members ejecting safely. And a KC-135 tanker crashed in western Iraq after an apparent midair collision with another U.S. aircraft, resulting in the deaths of six Airmen.
This is a developing story and will be updated.