After a United States F-35 fighter jet made an emergency touchdown at an airbase within the Center East final week throughout the escalating US-Israeli battle on Iran, two sources conversant in the matter informed US media the jet had been struck by Iran because it returned from a fight mission – a declare Iranian state media additionally reported.
If true, this could be the primary time throughout the battle that an F-35, the cornerstone of Washington’s aerial firepower, has been struck by Iran.
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Right here’s what we all know in regards to the incident and why it’s vital:
What do we all know in regards to the incident?
After the F-35 stealth fighter jet made its emergency touchdown on Thursday, Captain Tim Hawkins, spokesperson for the US navy’s Central Command (CENTCOM), stated it had landed safely and the pilot was in a steady situation.
“This incident is below investigation,” Hawkins added with out specifying why or the place the plane had landed.
The identical day, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps issued a press release saying it had focused a US plane.
In keeping with a report on Sunday by Air & Area Forces Journal, a publication that covers information on US air defence and nationwide safety points, the pilot suffered shrapnel wounds. The report, which quoted unnamed sources with data of the incident, stated the plane was hit by floor hearth.
Iran’s semiofficial Tasnim information company launched navy footage that it stated confirmed Tehran’s air defence programs hitting a US F-35 stealth fighter.
What’s an F-35, and what’s so particular about it?
The F-35 refers to a household of stealth strike fighters manufactured by the US aerospace firm Lockheed Martin. Its official web site payments the F-35 Lightning II – to offer the airplane its full title – as “essentially the most superior fighter jet on the earth”.
A lot of the airplane’s status for air superiority comes from its mixture of stealth know-how, superior sensors and high-speed computing.
The jet is engineered to be much less detectable and capable of collect extra data on its environment than earlier generations of fighter jets, feeding knowledge from a 360-degree digicam suite and different sensors on to the pilot.
“The important thing factor with F-35 is the radar suites,” John Phillips, a British security, safety and threat adviser and former navy chief teacher, informed Al Jazeera. Radar suites are a mix of {hardware} and software program which are capable of detect and analyse particular threats and facilitate a response to such threats.
“There isn’t a regular radar suite, and so they range by nation,” Phillips defined. “Rumours are that sure international locations have been solely given sure radars [by the manufacturer]. This I imagine is to counter makes an attempt at overseas adversaries like China or Russia reverse engineering the know-how.”
A number of international locations are companions with the US in manufacturing F-35s, together with Australia, Canada, Italy, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway and the UK. They both manufacture sure elements of the fighter jets or have services at which they assemble jets that their very own governments will use.
Among the many 20 international locations which have additionally purchased these jets are Japan, South Korea, the UK, Italy, Australia and Israel.
There are three forms of Lightning II F-35s, all of which have weapons mounted internally to enhance their stealth design.
The F-35A is the commonest mannequin and is most generally owned by different international locations. It will probably take off and land on a daily runway, comparable to these utilized by industrial airliners.
The F-35B is utilized by Italy, Japan, Singapore, the UK and the US. It’s able to touchdown vertically like a helicopter and taking off from a really brief runway, making it a very good choice for working from brief airstrips, in mountainous terrains, from seashores or from small islands.
The F-35C is a supersonic plane, which means it might probably journey sooner than sound waves. The US Navy has used this mannequin for long-range stealth operations. To this point, solely the US Navy has this mannequin. The US Marine Corps can be buying F-35C plane to function alongside their very own F-35Bs, in line with Lockheed Martin. Not like the F-35B, the F-35C wants an extended runway.
It’s not identified which of those three fashions of plane Iran claims to have shot down final week.
Why wouldn’t it be so vital if Iran has shot one down?
US officers haven’t but confirmed that an F-35 fighter jet was certainly hit by Iranian hearth final week. On Thursday, US President Donald Trump informed reporters: “We’re flying wherever we would like. No one is even taking pictures at us.”
Whereas F-35 stealth fighters have been deployed in fight operations since 2018, there have been no confirmed circumstances of 1 being struck by enemy hearth.
Defence specialists stated, due to this fact, if Iran’s claims that it has efficiently focused an F-35 plane are true, this can show that an F-35 will not be invulnerable in battle.
“This may be vital – not as a result of it means stealth is changing into out of date however as a result of it will present that even an F-35 will not be invulnerable in a dense, adaptive air-defence surroundings,” Ali Vaez, director of the Iran Undertaking on the Worldwide Disaster Group, informed Al Jazeera.
“At this stage, there is no such thing as a credible public proof {that a} fundamental surface-to-air missile system achieved this by itself,” he added.
Which US jets have been downed throughout the battle with Iran?
Because the US-Israeli strikes on Iran started on February 28, the US has reportedly misplaced 12 MQ-9 Reaper drones. These drones are remotely piloted and are primarily used to gather intelligence on an space in addition to “carry out strike, coordination and reconnaissance towards high-value, fleeting and time-sensitive targets”, in line with data from the US Air Drive.
Individually, US officers stated 5 KC-135 refuelling plane have been broken throughout an Iranian missile strike at a base in Saudi Arabia on March 14 though the reviews haven’t been independently verified.
On March 1, three US F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jets have been shot down in a pleasant hearth incident involving a Kuwaiti F/A-18. All six crew members ejected safely and have been recovered.
On Sunday, Iran stated it had intercepted an F-15 fighter jet violating Iranian airspace over its southern coast close to Hormuz Island. However the US has denied this declare. CENTCOM wrote on X: “FALSE: Rumors declare the Iranian regime not too long ago shot down a U.S. F-15 over Iran.
“TRUE: U.S. forces have flown greater than 8,000 fight flights throughout Operation Epic Fury. No U.S. fighter plane have been shot down by Iran.”
A minimum of 13 US service members have been killed throughout fight operations towards Iran and roughly 200 others have been wounded.
In Iran, at the least 1,444 folks have been killed and 18,551 injured because the begin of the battle, in line with native well being authorities.
