President Donald Trump was informed about the American fighter shot down over Iran, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told CNN on Friday. It was the first American fighter shot down in the fifth week of the war. According to unofficial information, one of the two crew members was found.
Iranian state television showed photos of the allegedly downed fighter jet. Experts quoted by “The Guardian” assessed that this is most likely US Air Force F-15E fighterbelonging to the 494th squadron stationed in the UK at RAF Lakenheath.
A social media account allegedly linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guard posted a photo of an ejection seat against a desert landscape that appeared to be consistent with the ACES II type used on the F15E fighter.
According to CNN, the US armed forces rescued one of the crew members. The pilot is alive and receiving medical help, writes CNN.
Debris from the downed plane, originally posted on social media, shows debris similar to an F-15E Strike Eagle. These are dual-role fighters, designed for both air-to-ground and air-to-air missions. In Iran, they most likely took part in air defense operations, shooting down Iranian drones and cruise missiles, writes the BBC.
The plane has a two-person crew: a pilot in the front, who flies the plane, and a weapons systems officer in the rear.
If the plane was shot down by the Iranians, the most likely cause was a surface-to-air missile (SAM), according to the BBC.
It was the first American fighter shot down over Iran since the beginning of the war. On March 1, Kuwait's air defense system mistakenly shot down three F-15E aircraft.
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Source: CNN, BBC, The Guardian, X
