A video shared by Tehran Times claims to show the moment a US F-35 fighter jet was hit during a combat mission over Iranian airspace. The clip shows the aircraft appearing to take damage, with explosions, smoke trails, and the jet veering off course mid-air.
A US F-35 fighter jet was attacked during an Iranian strike and forced to make an emergency landing at a military base in the Middle East, according to CNN. The claim, first made by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), would mark the first known instance of Iran hitting one of the US military’s most advanced and expensive aircraft in the ongoing conflict in Middle East.
According to the IRGC, the stealth jet was struck by air defence systems over central Iran in the early hours of Thursday. A video shared by Tehran Times claims to show the moment a US F-35 fighter jet was hit during a combat mission over Iranian airspace. The clip shows the aircraft appearing to take damage, with explosions, smoke trails, and the jet veering off course midair.
In a statement, the IRGC said it had “struck and seriously damaged” the aircraft at around 2.50 am (local time), adding that the jet’s fate remains unclear and that there is a “high possibility” it may have crashed. The group also said the operation followed the interception of more than 125 US-Israeli drones, calling it evidence of improvements in Iran’s air defence systems.
If confirmed, the incident would mark the first time Iran has successfully targeted an F-35, a fifth-generation fighter jet that costs more than $100 million and is considered a cornerstone of US air power. Both the US and Israel have been deploying F-35s extensively since the conflict escalated on February 28.
US CONFIRMS EMERGENCY LANDING, PLAYS DOWN DAMAGE
According to CNN, US Central Command said the aircraft was “flying a combat mission over Iran” when it was forced to make an emergency landing. “The aircraft landed safely, and the pilot is in stable condition,” spokesman Captain Tim Hawkins told CNN. “This incident is under investigation.”
However, Washington has not issued any official statement. The Pentagon said its operations are going as planned, with Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth saying the US is “winning decisively” and that Iran’s air defences have been “flattened”.
Amid escalating conflict, at least 16 US aircraft have reportedly been destroyed since the start of the war, including 10 Reaper drones, while several others have been damaged in combat or accidents.
[ADDENDUM]
The actual video of the event, plus more, from The Hindustan Times:
Ok… I watched less than one minute of that video. And previewed ahead a little bit. All I can see is stock and/or AI generated imagery and video and inserted headlines, and loads of Russian and Chinese astroturf/bots in the comments. I mean, its Hindustan time that’s what I’d expect.
If the F35 got hit by AA and landed, it speaks well of the aircraft; let’s be clear about that. I’m gonna presume that its a resource that the US and Israel have been overusing since the start. Which means Iran has had a lot of opportunity to shoot at them. All stealth means is that their head-on radar cross-section is extremely small, and the coating and shape of the craft refract radar signal, rather than reflect. I’m surprised more haven’t been hit or lost. Hell I’m surprised a Shahed drone swarm hasn’t tried for a carrier. It seems Iran is using what they have to disrupt and upset the world’s energy economy, which is probably the smarter option, for them.
All this “war” proves out to me is that we are that much further into our third world war. And it seems like that is exactly what the vile excrement in power right now seem to want. It’s a great distraction from the fact that we are fucked.
Edit: I always like to leave little notes when I leave a comment I put a little effort into, and am subsequently reminded that I am wrong for having any faith in the human race in general.
Oh?
Why would you presume that?
You ever heard of the concept of an ambush?
You… appear weaker than you are, absent, and then you set a trap?
Also: $2 trillion dollars.
Could have bought a lot of healthcare with that.
Not surprising if we haven’t been using them that much and have instead been using a lot of ballistic missiles, untill we basically ran out of them.
You know like how Ukraine went early on, everybody blew their load early, then had to figure out ways to try and get the same range out of stuff launched from fighters/attack aircraft, like the guided+boosted glide bombs?
That’s not surprising given how incredibly rational Iran has been acting.
It doesn’t escalate first.
We do. Then they respond in kind.
Sinking a US carrier and causing roughly a 9/11’s worth of deaths would uh… be quite an escalation, and they’re aware of that.
Fortunately, it seems the sailors on the Ford seemed to do a good enough job of stuffing tshirts into the toilets and setting the laundry room on fire, that that particular carrier uh, removed itself from action, functionally.
It is so insanely obviously the smarter strategy that for decades, that’s been the conclusion of Western military analysts, and Iran has just also … more or less just said that is what they would do.
Not a clue about the nature of your hostility, so I’ll just leave you with it. I was mostly reactive regarding the poor quality of a side’s propaganda, and musing on it. I feel like I’d be wasting my time responding to surreptitious bullet points.
Edit: I’m not sure how other aren’t seeing how you have turned things we agree upon into point of perceived attack, but you’re good. I admit, you like hitting the enter key twice a alot. My original point that your source video for this is obvious garbage still stands. Of course, I am not disputing events as reported. You should try paragraphs.
Are you implying that the laundry room fire was set on purpose by some of the sailors?
Genuine question. It seems plausible and I’m not sure why I took the official story at face value but I haven’t seen anything to contradict it myself.
Yes.
Its being investigated.
They already found the tshirts stuffed into the extremely fancy, vaccuum pump system that comprises the toilets.
Yeah I can see you accidentally dropping your phone in the shitter.
Not multiple tshirts.
… It’s kinda like they fragged the aircraft carrier itself, but in a way that didn’t kill anybody.
Clever.
The Dems did go through that whole episode of ‘You do not have to follow illegal orders.’
Declaring ‘No quarter’, publically, in a televised press conference… that’s not allowed by the DoD’s own rules, and is widely regarded as a war crime, in and of itself.
Thank you. I struggle to balance hope and appropriate skepticism.
Does it? If I was rolling out the first tank against an enemy on horseback that were able to disable my tank enough to send my tank back for repair, I’d really have to rethink my tank design.
Not a perfect analogy. But, I’m trying to make a point so it’s exaggerated. We are talking about the flagship stealth aircraft getting shot at and damaged without its knowledge of being targeted or shot at. That’s insane.
Unless Iran is rocking some Chinese tech we don’t know they have (or even some tech they developed themselves) the F35 was tracked and damaged without any knowledge to the pilot at all that they were being shot at until they got hit.
That may speak well of its impact capability. But, the F35 is not a tank, it’s literal purpose is to target the enemy without being detected and Iran just flipped that on its head with the US militaries flagship 2 trillion dollars of development cost aircraft.
That DOES NOT speak well for it at all given it’s fundamental purpose. The fact that it was forced to land and could not carry out it’s purpose is NOT a testament to its ability at all.
Sorry about the downvote. I get your point, but I would counter that Iran is levels below us in technology. They should not be able to hit our planes absent some technological advances on their part, big ones. I suspect bad, arrogant orders put those planes in a reckless position.
But the F-35 was a shit show from the start. They demanded it be both a fighter and bomber and do everything, and it went over budget, over time, for what, two decades? I suspect it’s not all it’s cracked up to be, and bad reckless orders. Also they have kill switches in the ones they sell some countries. A fusible link that bricks it. As per the rumour.
They do have some interesting advances. E.g. loitering air defense missiles.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/358_missile
Since F-35 does not use its radar while being stealthy, it would require an early warning from an AWACS about a loitering missile. But the missile is small. It gets pointed to an area and told (typical scenario) “there be helicopters somewhere there, go and see if you can find them”. It cruises in economy mode and watches with presumbaly side-scanning sensors. If it sees a hot topic, it turns and goes from loitering mode to darting mode.
P.S. Not sure if this was the weapon involved. It’s just the strangest thing Iran has.