Nearly two days after an F-15E Strike Eagle of the US military crashed in Iran, the American forces on Sunday were able to rescue the second crew member of the fighter jet following heavy clashes with the Iranian forces. The operation was described as ‘daring’ by President Donald Trump, who further said the US will never leave a ‘warfighter’ behind.
According to Trump, the rescued crew member is a colonel rank officer, who was in the ‘treacherous mountains’ of Iran and was being hunted by the Iranians. But the officer, whose identity was not revealed, was constantly being monitored. He stated that the officer was injured, but he will recover soon.
“At my direction, the U.S. Military sent dozens of aircraft, armed with the most lethal weapons in the World, to retrieve him,” he said. “This miraculous Search and Rescue Operation comes in addition to a successful rescue of another brave Pilot, yesterday, which we did not confirm, because we did not want to jeopardize our second rescue operation.”
How the F-15 crew was rescued
The pilot of the F-15 was rescued several hours after the crash, but the search for the weapons system officer (WSO) was more challenging. According to a report Axios, the WSO was injured after ejection but could walk and evaded capture by the Iranians for more than a day in southwest Iran. The rescue operation involved a specialized commando unit (Navy SEAL Team 6 commandos) that unleashed a hail of heavy fire.
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) also played a critical role by launching a “deception campaign by spreading word inside Iran that U.S. forces had already found him and were attempting a ground exfiltration”, Axios reported.
“This was the ultimate needle in a haystack but in this case it was a brave American soul inside a mountain crevice, invisible but for CIA’s capabilities,” an official told media outlet, adding that the WSO’s precise location was shared with the Pentagon by the CIA.
The US forces even conducted air strikes against Iranian military personnel to keep them away from the area where the WSO was. The operation was continuously being monitored by Trump and his administration at the White House Situation Room.
“The fact that we were able to pull off both of these operations, without a SINGLE American killed, or even wounded, just proves once again, that we have achieved overwhelming Air Dominance and Superiority over the Iranian skies,” Trump said, declaring the operation’s success.
What weapons, equipment were used by US
- HH-60W ‘Jolly Green II’ helicopters
- F-35 stealth jets
- A-10 Warthog attack fighter aircraft
- HC-130 rescue mid-air tanker for the fighter jets
The fighter jet was the first American aircraft to have crashed in Iranian territory since the US and Israel launched the war, striking Iran on February 28. Both sides have threatened and hit civilian targets, bringing warnings of possible war crimes. The war has killed thousands, shaken global markets, cut off key shipping routes and spiked fuel prices.
As Iran continues to exert control over the Strait of Hormuz, Trump, in an earlier social media post, threatened to unleash all Hell if it isn’t opened by Monday. He has issued such threats before and extended them when mediators have claimed progress toward ending the war on agreeable terms.
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