In a historic development, Iran claimed striking a U.S. Air Force F-35 stealth fighter jet during a combat mission over the country. This is the second recorded case of a US stealth aircraft being struck mid-air.
For the F-35, this would be the first successful mid-flight targeting of a fifth-generation stealth fighter, the cornerstone of the US’s air power. This would also be only the second mid-air strike against a stealth aircraft after the shootdown of a USAF F-117 Nighthawk in Serbia in 1999.
While the USAF did not comment on the Iranian claim of hitting the F-35, it did confirm that a US F-35 fighter jet made an emergency landing at a US air base in the Middle East.
Capt. Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson for US Central Command, said the fifth-generation stealth jet was “flying a combat mission over Iran” when it was forced to make an emergency landing. Hawkins said the aircraft landed safely and the incident is under investigation.
“The aircraft landed safely, and the pilot is in stable condition,” Hawkins added. “This incident is under investigation.”
Meanwhile, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN that the aircraft was possibly hit by Iranian fire.
According to the IRGC, the stealth jet was struck by air defence systems over central Iran in the early hours of March 19.
Official Iranian accounts and the Tehran Times also shared a video, which apparently shows the moment a US F-35 fighter jet was hit during a combat mission over Iranian airspace. The six-second short clip shows an aircraft taking a hit, with explosions, smoke trails, and the jet veering off course midair.
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.
Notably, while Iran has made similar claims of hitting the F-35 in the past, including during the ongoing Operation Epic Fury as well as during the 12-day Iran-Israel War in June last year, this is the most credible claim by Tehran, as this time the IRGC also released a video of the hit and even the US Central command has acknowledged the “emergency landing” by F-35.
While the USAF has already lost four aircraft in the war, three F-15 Strike Eagles due to possible friendly fire over Kuwait, and a KC-135 military transport aircraft over Iraq, this would be the first time that Iran has hit a manned aircraft in the three-week-old war that started on February 28.
This would also be the first mid-air strike against a stealth aircraft anywhere in the world since the F-35 entered operational service with the US military in 2015.
As many as 19 countries fly the F-35 fighter jets, including the US and Israel. The fighter jet is a cornerstone of US Air Power, with the country operating nearly 800 of these fifth-generation aircraft and planning to field a fleet of nearly 2,500 F-35s.
The F-35 is also the world’s most produced stealth fighter jet. Lockheed Martin, the manufacturer of the stealth jet, has already delivered nearly 1300 F-35s.
In fact, there are more F-35s in the world than all other stealth fighter jets combined.
Ironically, the F-35 had achieved its first air-to-air kill of a manned aircraft just days ago during the same war.
On March 4, an Israeli Air Force (IAF) F-35I “Adir” fighter jet shot down an Iranian Air Force YAK-130 fighter jet.
While this could be the first strike against the F-35, there have been instances when the aircraft was almost shot down.
Exactly a year ago, a Houthi surface-to-air (SAM) missile barely missed an American F-35 fifth-generation fighter. The F-35, participating in Operation Rough Rider against the Houthis, was forced to take evasive action to avoid the missile, the New York Times reported.
At that time, questions were raised over the survivability of the F-35s in contested environments. It was pointed out that if the Houthis, with their unsophisticated air defense systems, were able to track and almost shoot down the stealth F-35, then how would the aircraft survive against peer group threats, such as China and Russia?
It must be noted that while the F-35s have participated in multiple conflicts, including in Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, and against Iran, most of these countries had outdated Cold-War era air defense systems.
The F-35, with all its might and claims of stealth++ status, is still untested against modern, advanced air defense systems such as the Russian S-400 or China’s claimed “stealth killer” radar systems, including the JY-27V, YLC-8B, and quantum radar technologies.
Venezuela deployed Chinese-made JY-27 and JYL-1 radar systems, branded as “stealth killers.” However, we do not know whether Caracas was able to utilize them during the American raid in January this year.
Nevertheless, the near-miss in Yemen last year and a possible Iranian strike against the F-35 are reminders that stealth is never 100 %, and sometimes, even rudimentary air defense systems could track and shoot down stealth fighter jets.
Notably, China has often claimed that even its fourth-generation aircraft can track and lock onto American stealth fighter jets.
In October last year, Global Times reported on a documentary shown on China Central Television (CCTV), where a PLA Air Force (PLAAF) pilot from the special mission aircraft formation claimed that he was able to simultaneously lock two foreign stealth fighter jets while flying the domestically developed J-16 fighter jet, forcing both jets to withdraw.
In July, China claimed that its fifth-generation aircraft, the J-20 Mighty Dragon, could lock onto and chase away the F-35.
Notably, so far, only one stealth aircraft had ever been shot down. In 1999, in Serbia, formerly Yugoslavia, a USAF F-117 Nighthawk was shot down using the Soviet-era S-125 radar.
To this day, this remains the only shootdown of a stealth fighter jet.
The Iranian hit, if established, is also a reminder that the US and Israel are yet to achieve full air superiority over Iran and that the Iranian air defense systems, while decimated, could still pose a threat to US and Israeli fighter jets, especially when they start conducting aerial missions over the country, rather than launching stand-off missiles from a safe distance.
Iranian air defense systems are also highly mobile. They can literally pop up anywhere, even at most unlikely places, and disrupt the US and Israeli air combat missions.
As the US and Israel move to more direct combat missions over Iranian airspace, the risks to fighter jets, even the stealthy ones, will likely increase manifold.
Speaking today, Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters: “We’re flying further to the east now and penetrating deeper into Iranian airspace to hunt and kill one-way attack drone garrisons, destroying Iran’s ability to project power outside of its borders.”
If the USAF F-35 was indeed hit by an Iranian Surface-to-air (SAM) missile, then this could have huge repercussions in the Indo-Pacific theatre, where the F-35 is also used by Singapore, Japan, and South Korea, and is likely to play a prominent role in any contingency over Taiwan.
This would also raise questions over Lockheed Martin’s repeatedly delayed Block-4 upgrades for the F-35s, which include a newer Technology Refresh-3 (TR-3) software upgrade.
Earlier this week, the Eurasian Times reported how, due to delayed TR-3 upgrades, the F-35s are still flying combat missions on TR-2 software, affecting their combat mission capabilities.
However, at this stage, it is not confirmed that the aircraft was hit by an Iranian SAM. The USAF F-35 could also have been hit by friendly fire, as was the case in the shootdown of three USAF F-15s over Kuwait earlier this month.
One should wait for a full investigation before jumping to any conclusion.
- Sumit Ahlawat has over a decade of experience in news media. He has worked with Press Trust of India, Times Now, Zee News, Economic Times, and Microsoft News. He holds a Master’s Degree in International Media and Modern History from the University of Sheffield, UK.
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