The United States is investigating the circumstances that surround a F-35A jet fighter having to make an emergency landing after a combat mission over Iran.
A United States Air Force F-35 fighter jet was forced to make an emergency landing at a U.S. airbase in the Middle East after flying a combat mission over Iran, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Thursday.
“We are aware of reports” of the emergency landing, CENTCOM said, adding “The aircraft landed safely, and the pilot is in stable condition. This incident is under investigation.”
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) paramilitary moved to claim the incident as a shootdown, asserting “the likelihood of its crash is very high” and publishing an infrared video clip showing an aircraft being struck mid-flight. The footage appears to show a missile intercepting the aircraft and exploding. After the blast three frames of footage showing the aircraft apparently intact are shown before the video ends.
Iranian state media claims the IRGC hit an American F-35 at 02:50 local time with an “advanced, modern air defense system”, and that “the fate of the fighter jet is unclear and under investigation, and the likelihood of its crash is very high”.
Nevertheless, neither Iran’s claims nor its footage have been verified at the time of publication, and the assertion of a high-likelihood crash have been contradicted by CENTCOM’s claims of the aircraft landing “safely” and its pilot being “in a stable condition”.
As things stand there have been no confirmed successful Iranian interceptions of United States or Israeli manned aircraft over the court of Operation Epic Fury so far, a testament to the potency of the American suppression of enemy air defence mission which has allowed the U.S. to operate in an environment with at least some qualities of uncontested airspace. Indeed, the only confirmed losses of allied aircraft so far have been attributed to either friendly fire, or mid-air collisions.
That the United States has deployed older, non-stealth aircraft to theatre including the B-52 and A-10 has been a clear signal of domination of Iranian airspace to this point.
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