Two US aircraft shot down as war in Iran escalates

Sam Mendick, Konstantin Toropin and Seung Min Kim, Associated Press

Two US military planes were shot down in separate incidents on Friday, and while one crew member was rescued in Iran, the whereabouts of at least one other was unknown.

The incidents marked a dramatic escalation since the war began nearly five weeks ago.

It was the first time US aircraft had been downed in the conflict and came just two days after President Donald Trump said in a national address that the US has “beaten and completely decimated Iran” and was “going to finish the job, and we’re going to finish it very fast”.

One fighter jet was shot down in Iran, officials said.

A US crew member from that jet was rescued, but a second was missing.

The rescue occurred as the US military was conducting a search operation, a US official and an Israeli official said.

Three people familiar also confirmed that a search had been under way.

All spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitivity of the situation.

No official details were released.

But the Pentagon notified the House Armed Services Committee that the status of a second service member is not known.

In an email from the Pentagon obtained by The Associated Press, the US military said it received notification of “an aircraft being shot down” in the Middle East, without providing more details.

Separately, Iranian state media said that a US A-10 attack aircraft had crashed into Persian Gulf after being struck by Iranian defence forces.

Earlier, a US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive military situation, said it was not clear if the aircraft crashed or was shot down or whether Iran was involved.

Neither the status of that aircraft’s crew, nor exactly where the aircraft went down, was immediately known.

The incidents came as Iran fired on targets across the Middle East on Friday, keeping the pressure on Israel and its Gulf Arab neighbours, despite US and Israeli insistence that Iran’s military capabilities have been all but destroyed.

Iran’s attacks on Gulf energy infrastructure and its tight grip on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas transits in peacetime, have roiled stock markets, sent oil prices skyrocketing, and threatened to raise the cost of many basic goods, including food.

Prior to word of the rescue, social media footage showed American drones, aircraft and helicopters flying over the mountainous region where a TV channel affiliated with Iranian state television had said earlier on Friday that at least one pilot bailed out of the fighter jet.

Reward

An anchor had urged residents to hand over any “enemy pilot” to police and promised a reward.

It was the first time the US has lost aircraft in Iranian territory during the conflict and could mark a new level of pressure being placed on the US military.

Throughout the war, Iran has made a series of claims about shooting down piloted enemy aircraft that turned out not to be true.

Friday was the first time that Iran went on television urging the public to look for a downed pilot.

Iranian state media said in a post on X that Iran’s military shot down a US F-15E Strike Eagle.

The aircraft is a variation of the Air Force fighter jet that carries a pilot and weapons system officer.

Alan Diehl, a former investigator for the Air Force Safety Centre, said the Strike Eagle has an emergency locator beacon in a survival kit that can be set to activate automatically or manually.

The Pentagon did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a previous statement that Mr Trump had been briefed but did not offer additional information.