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USAF F-15E shot down over Iran

A frantic US combat search and rescue (CSAR) mission is underway for the two crew members of a US Air Force (USAF) F-15E Strike Eagle fighter bomber shot down over Iran, the first such incident since the beginning of Operation Epic Fury.

As we have already reported, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed to have shot down a USAF F-35 Lightning II fighter jet flying over central Iran by means of a new air defense system. However, the images showing the wreckage that were published by Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency and shared by @Osittechinal on X showed featured a paint scheme that does not appear consistent with what of an F-35A, but with that of an F-15E Strike Eagle.

Specifically, an F-15E belonging to the 494th Fighter Squadron of the 48th Fighter Wing based at RAF Lakenheath, UK, as the red coloring visible on the wreckage aligns with tail markings on F-15s from the same squadron.

The F-15E shooting down was later confirmed off the record by US officials familiar with the situation who stated that the Pentagon was scrambling to find the crew before the Iranians.

According to The Guardian, one of the crew members was reported as having been rescued in what is likely to have been a high-risk operation with rescue aircraft probably exposed to fire from the ground. It was not immediately clear if the jet had a full crew of two.

CSAR mission ongoing

A US C-130 Hercules and HH-60 Pavehawk helicopters flying low and at one point refuelling together were featured in a video filmed in Iran, amid fresh Iranian speculation that the plane crew may have ejected and survived.

No US troops have so far been taken prisoner by Iran. A total of 13 American service personnel have been killed and 300 have been wounded during Operation Epic Fury.

A picture of an ejection seat in a desert landscape that appeared to be consistent with the ACES II type used in F-15Es was posted by a social media account claiming to be linked to IRGC.

Resident were urged to hand over any “enemy pilot” to police with the promise a reward for anyone, an Iranian TV presenter said. That channel is based in Kohkilouyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province, a mountainous region in the south-west of the country.

Tehran’s initial claim that the pilot had probably died in the incident was contradicted by Iran’s Tasnim news agency that reported that the pilot of the aircraft– still incorrectly describing it as an F-35 – had been taken into custody.

The Pentagon has not made any statement regarding the IRGC’s claim, but US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Social Media;

‘CLAIM: Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) says it downed an “enemy” fighter jet over Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz.

‘FACT: All U.S. fighter aircraft are accounted for. Iran’s IRGC has made the same false claim at least half a dozen times.’

US air assets lost or damaged during Operation Epic Fury

This F-15E follows a USAF E-3G destroyed on Mar. 27, 2026 along with multiple United States service members wounded and multiple KC-135 Stratotankers damaged during the Iranian missile and drone attack on Prince Sultan Air Base.

On Mar. 23 a USAF F-35A pilot was wounded by shrapnel after his Lightning II was hit over. Other US air assets damaged or lost during Operation Epic Fury, are 5 KC-135s damaged in Iranian Attack on a Saudi Air Base on Mar. 13, one KC-135 lost in Iraq and one damaged that safely landed in Israel on Mar. 12 and three  F-15E Strike Eagles shot down by friendly fire of a Kuwaiti F/A-18 on Mar. 2. Several MQ-9 Reaper drones have been lost during Operation Epic Fury too.