Iran reportedly shot down a US Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle on April 3, marking the first confirmed loss of a manned American fighter jet inside Iranian territory since the start of Operation Epic Fury nearly five weeks ago.
According to US officials who spoke to CBS News, the aircraft was struck by Iranian fire while operating over Iran. Both crew members “ejected safely” after it was struck by Iranian fire. American special operations forces successfully rescued one of the airmen. The second crew member remains missing, with both US and Iranian forces searching the area. Israel is also assisting US intelligence on locating the second missing pilot, Axios reported.
In a related incident, Iran “struck” a US Blackhawk helicopter involved in the search-and-rescue efforts for the second pilot, but the aircraft “was able to safely exit Iranian territory and land without further incident,” Newsmax reported. A US Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II “Warthog” was also damaged by Iranian fire and went down on April 3, marking the second American aircraft loss on the same day, according to The New York Times. Reports indicate that the A-10 was also “part of the search-and-rescue mission” when it was hit. The pilot “ejected over the Persian Gulf and was successfully recovered.”
Iranian state media aired footage detailing that a bounty was placed on capturing one of the downed F-15E fighter’s crew alive. The BBC reported the figure at roughly 60,000 US dollars.
The losses of the F-15E and A-10 mark the first manned US aircraft downed by Iran since the war began on February 28, 2026. Three US F-15Es were previously shot down by a Kuwaiti Air Force F/A-18 fighter in a friendly fire incident on March 1, 2026, but all six crew members survived.
Iran is reported to have shot down 11 to 13 MQ-9 Reaper drones over Iran and the Persian Gulf since the conflict. Also, a US Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker was lost after colliding with an airplane over Iraq, killing all six crewmen.
The US military lost scores of manned aircraft due to enemy fire during the wars in Iraq (2003–2011) and Afghanistan (2001–2021); however, the downing of manned fighters and bombers is rare. The most significant shootdowns took place as large numbers of US troops were being transported on Chinook helicopters.
On November 2, 2003, 16 US soldiers were killed when Iraqi insurgents shot down a US Army CH-47 Chinook using an SA-7 surface-to-air missile near Fallujah, Iraq. On June 28, 2005, eight Navy SEALs and eight Army Night Stalkers aircraft crew members were killed when the Taliban shot down their MH-47 Chinook in Kunar Province, Afghanistan. On August 6, 2011, 17 Navy SEALs, five Naval Special Warfare (NSW) support personnel, 8 helicopter crew members, and 8 Afghan personnel were killed when the Taliban shot down their CH-47 Chinook in Wardak Province, Afghanistan. Both helicopters in Afghanistan were downed using rocket-propelled grenades.
Joe Truzman is a research analyst at FDD's Long War Journal focused primarily on Palestinian militant groups and Hezbollah. Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal.
Tags: F-15E, Iran, Operation Epic Fury, us, US-Iran
