US F-15E Shot Down Over Iran, One Crew Member Missing After Ejection

The U.S. Air Force lost an F-15E Strike Eagle to Iranian fire on Friday, with one of its two crew members still missing as search-and-rescue operations extend into Khuzestan Province and the waters near Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz.

The aircraft went down during the fifth week of Operation Epic Fury. Both the pilot and weapons systems officer ejected. U.S. forces recovered the pilot, who is receiving medical treatment. The WSO remains unaccounted for, and the Pentagon notified the House Armed Services Committee about the crew member's unknown status. An Israeli official told the AP that U.S. airstrikes had been paused in areas relevant to the rescue.

The rescue mission itself drew additional fire. An A-10 Thunderbolt II dispatched to support the search was struck by Iranian forces. Its pilot navigated the damaged aircraft into Kuwaiti airspace before ejecting; the plane crashed in Kuwait and the pilot was recovered safely. Two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters involved in the same mission were also struck. All helicopter crew were accounted for with minor injuries, and all returned to base.

The losses hit with particular force given what the administration had said days earlier. In a prime-time Wednesday address, President Trump declared that Iran had "no anti-aircraft equipment" and that their "radar is 100% annihilated," adding: "We are unstoppable as a military force." Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had similarly asserted that Iran's air and missile defenses were degraded. When asked about the downed aircraft Friday, Trump told NBC News: "It's war. We're in war."

CNN geolocated search operations to Khuzestan Province, with imagery showing a refueling plane and two helicopters flying low over the region. Iran's state-run Tasnim agency stated the search for the missing crew had "so far been unsuccessful." The semi-official Fars News reported that a TV anchor offered a reward for capturing an "enemy pilot or pilots," and a regional Iranian governor separately announced a bounty for the crew.

Iranian state media initially misidentified the downed jet as an F-35. N.R. Jenzen-Jones, director of the Armament Research Services, said debris in circulating images was consistent with a U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle. Former Pentagon advisor and defense analyst Wes J. Bryant reached the same conclusion independently.

The F-15E is a Boeing-built, dual-role aircraft crewed by a pilot and a weapons systems officer. Three earlier F-15Es had been lost during the campaign, though those were attributed to friendly fire. The broader toll of Operation Epic Fury now stands at least 13 Americans killed and at least 365 service members wounded. Iran also rejected a White House request for a 48-hour ceasefire during the crisis.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf mocked the U.S. on X: "After defeating Iran 37 times in a row, this brilliant no-strategy war they started has now been downgraded from regime change to Hey! Can anyone find our pilots? Please?" With the WSO's location unknown and bounties offered for American crew, Friday's losses have exposed the sharpest gap yet between the administration's portrait of air dominance and the operational reality over Iran.