BREAKING - DEVELOPING:
American fighter jet shot down, and Iran is trying to capture the pilot while the U.S. launches a massive search and rescue operation
Seems Iran shot down an F-15 fighter jet, and is trying to captured the pilot
A massive American search operation is underway involving MQ-9 drones, F-35s and heliborne units
Iranian air defenses are engaging the American aircraft involved in the search and rescue
Location geolocated to the Khuzestan Province, southwest Iran – 30.6515, 50.1174
This would be the first time a country intentionally shot down an American fighter jet since 1999, 27 years ago, and the first time since the Iraq war a pilot was captured (in Iraq it was 2 Apache helicopter pilots)
Iranian state TV just put out t hat statement: "Anyone who captures the US pilot alive will receive a valuable reward"
This remains unconfirmed, but many indicators are pointing to this being true
CONTEXT:
The F-15E is worth about $80-100M, and they have NEVER been shot down. They are a very difficult aircraft to shoot down, and usually requires luck + surprise.
This demonstrates Iran's military capabilities are far from destroyed, and this successful downing of an F-15 may have involved the Russian S-300