After a United States F-35 fighter jet made an emergency landing at an airbase in the Middle East last week during the escalating US-Israeli war on Iran, two sources familiar with the matter told US media the jet had been struck by Iran as it returned from a combat mission – a claim Iranian state media also reported.
If true, this would be the first time during the war that an F-35, the cornerstone of Washington’s aerial firepower, has been struck by Iran.
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Here’s what we know about the incident and why it is significant:
What do we know about the incident?
After the F-35 stealth fighter jet made its emergency landing on Thursday, Captain Tim Hawkins, spokesperson for the US military’s Central Command (CENTCOM), said it had landed safely and the pilot was in a stable condition.
“This incident is under investigation,” Hawkins added without specifying why or where the aircraft had landed.
The same day, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps issued a statement saying it had targeted a US aircraft.
According to a report on Sunday by Air & Space Forces Magazine, a publication that covers news on US air defence and national security issues, the pilot suffered shrapnel wounds. The report, which quoted unnamed sources with knowledge of the incident, said the aircraft was hit by ground fire.
Iran’s semiofficial Tasnim news agency released military footage that it said showed Tehran’s air defence systems hitting a US F-35 stealth fighter.
What is an F-35, and what’s so special about it?
The F-35 refers to a family of stealth strike fighters manufactured by the US aerospace company Lockheed Martin. Its official website bills the F-35 Lightning II – to give the plane its full name – as “the most advanced fighter jet in the world”.
Much of the plane’s reputation for air superiority comes from its combination of stealth technology, advanced sensors and high-speed computing.
The jet is engineered to be less detectable and able to gather more information on its surroundings than earlier generations of fighter jets, feeding data from a 360-degree camera suite and other sensors directly to the pilot.
“The key thing with F-35 is the radar suites,” John Phillips, a British safety, security and risk adviser and former military chief instructor, told Al Jazeera. Radar suites are a combination of hardware and software that are able to detect and analyse specific threats and facilitate a response to such threats.
“There isn’t a standard radar suite, and they vary by nation,” Phillips explained. “Rumours are that certain countries were only given certain radars [by the manufacturer]. This I believe is to counter attempts at foreign adversaries like China or Russia reverse engineering the technology.”
Several countries are partners with the US in manufacturing F-35s, including Australia, Canada, Italy, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway and the United Kingdom. They either manufacture certain components of the fighter jets or have facilities at which they assemble jets that their own governments will use.
Among the 20 countries that have also bought these jets are Japan, South Korea, the UK, Italy, Australia and Israel.
There are three types of Lightning II F-35s, all of which have weapons mounted internally to augment their stealth design.
The F-35A is the most common model and is most widely owned by other countries. It can take off and land on a regular runway, such as those used by commercial airliners.
The F-35B is used by Italy, Japan, Singapore, the UK and the US. It is capable of landing vertically like a helicopter and taking off from a very short runway, making it a good option for operating from short airstrips, in mountainous terrains, from beaches or from small islands.
The F-35C is a supersonic aircraft, meaning it can travel faster than sound waves. The US Navy has used this model for long-range stealth operations. So far, only the US Navy has this model. The US Marine Corps is also acquiring F-35C aircraft to operate alongside their own F-35Bs, according to Lockheed Martin. Unlike the F-35B, the F-35C needs a longer runway.
It is not known which of these three models of aircraft Iran claims to have shot down last week.
Why would it be so significant if Iran has shot one down?
US officials have not yet confirmed that an F-35 fighter jet was indeed hit by Iranian fire last week. On Thursday, US President Donald Trump told reporters: “We’re flying wherever we want. Nobody is even shooting at us.”
While F-35 stealth fighters have been deployed in combat operations since 2018, there have been no confirmed cases of one being struck by enemy fire.
Defence experts said, therefore, if Iran’s claims that it has successfully targeted an F-35 aircraft are true, this will prove that an F-35 is not invulnerable in war.
“This would be significant – not because it means stealth is becoming obsolete but because it would show that even an F-35 is not invulnerable in a dense, adaptive air-defence environment,” Ali Vaez, director of the Iran Project at the International Crisis Group, told Al Jazeera.
“At this stage, there is no credible public evidence that a basic surface-to-air missile system achieved this on its own,” he added.
Which US jets have been downed during the war with Iran?
Since the US-Israeli strikes on Iran began on February 28, the US has reportedly lost 12 MQ-9 Reaper drones. These drones are remotely piloted and are primarily used to collect intelligence on an area as well as “perform strike, coordination and reconnaissance against high-value, fleeting and time-sensitive targets”, according to information from the US Air Force.
Separately, US officials said five KC-135 refuelling aircraft were damaged during an Iranian missile strike at a base in Saudi Arabia on March 14 although the reports have not been independently verified.
On March 1, three US F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jets were shot down in a friendly fire incident involving a Kuwaiti F/A-18. All six crew members ejected safely and were recovered.
On Sunday, Iran said it had intercepted an F-15 fighter jet violating Iranian airspace over its southern coast near Hormuz Island. But the US has denied this claim. CENTCOM wrote on X: “FALSE: Rumors claim the Iranian regime recently shot down a U.S. F-15 over Iran.
“TRUE: U.S. forces have flown more than 8,000 combat flights during Operation Epic Fury. No U.S. fighter aircraft have been shot down by Iran.”
At least 13 US service members have been killed during combat operations against Iran and roughly 200 others have been wounded.
In Iran, at least 1,444 people have been killed and 18,551 injured since the start of the conflict, according to local health authorities.
