Over the past five weeks of fighting, President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth repeatedly portrayed Iran’s military capabilities as largely destroyed — including its air defenses and radar systems — saying U.S. strikes had effectively taken them out.
Those assertions were challenged Friday when, according to several U.S. officials, Iran appeared to shoot down a U.S. F-15E over its territory. One crew member was rescued, a U.S. official said; the status of the other crew member was unknown and a search-and-rescue operation was reported to be under way. The White House said Trump was briefed; the Pentagon declined immediate comment.
Officials also reported that two Black Hawk helicopters involved in the F-15E rescue effort were struck by incoming fire. Separately, an A-10 was reportedly hit and crashed in a neighboring allied country; its pilot was rescued, according to one official.
In a prime-time address earlier this week, Trump emphasized U.S. military strength and warned that Washington could strike Iranian power plants if Tehran did not agree to end the conflict. He said Iran had no anti-aircraft equipment and that its radar had been ‘‘100% annihilated,’’ asserting that U.S. forces were ‘‘unstoppable as a military force.’’ He also described Iran’s air force as ‘‘in ruins’’ and said the country’s missile and drone capabilities had been sharply curtailed.
Earlier appearances had made similar points. At an investors’ conference in Miami, Trump said U.S. forces were ‘‘just floating over the top looking for whatever we want’’ and that thousands of remaining targets could be struck quickly. A week before that he rejected calls for a cease-fire, saying it was unnecessary when U.S. strikes were ‘‘literally obliterating the other side’’ and asserting that Iranian spotters, anti-aircraft systems and radar had been eliminated.
Hegseth repeatedly echoed the administration’s claims. On March 4 he told reporters that within about a week the U.S. and Israel would have ‘‘complete control of Iranian skies,’’ describing ‘‘uncontested airspace’’ that would let U.S. forces operate day and night against Iran’s missiles, defense industry and leadership. On March 13, during a briefing with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Dan Caine, Hegseth said Iran ‘‘has no air defenses,’’ calling its air force and navy effectively gone and saying missile and drone capabilities had been markedly reduced.
Gen. Caine, however, has described Iran as a ‘‘determined enemy’’ that is ‘‘adapting’’ even as U.S. strikes degrade its capabilities.
When discussing an earlier attack on a base in Kuwait that killed six U.S. service members at the start of the war, Hegseth acknowledged that while U.S. air defenses were ‘‘incredible,’’ occasionally a projectile — which he called a ‘squirter’ — could get through.
The downing of the F-15E and subsequent strikes on rescue aircraft raised immediate questions about the extent of U.S. control of Iranian airspace and the accuracy of repeated public statements that Iran’s anti-aircraft and radar systems had been neutralized.