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Dozens of aircraft, deception effort: How US rescued airman from downed F-15 jet in Iran
The crew member, who Donald Trump said was a colonel, was the second crew member of the F-15 that Iran claimed on Friday had been hit by its air defences.
US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that an American service member, missing after Iran shot down an F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet, has been found in a rescue mission that involved “dozens of aircraft.”
"Over the past several hours, the United States Military pulled off one of the most daring Search and Rescue Operations in US History," Trump said in a statement. He added that the airman was injured but “he will be just fine”. Follow US-Iran war live updates here.
The crew member, who Trump said was a colonel, was the second crew member of the F-15 that Iran claimed on Friday had been hit by its air defences.
How US airman was rescued and extracted from Iran
A high-pressure US search-and-rescue effort began after the F-15E Strike Eagle jet crashed on Friday, as Iran also announced a reward for anyone who handed over the “enemy pilot.”
This was the first time a manned US aircraft had been shot down over Iran during the conflict. Early in the war, three F-15 jets were accidentally shot down in a friendly fire incident by Kuwaiti air defences.
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“This brave Warrior was behind enemy lines in the treacherous mountains of Iran, being hunted down by our enemies, who were getting closer and closer by the hour,” Trump wrote.
US officials, both current and former, told The New York Times that the aviator is a weapons system officer. Notably, US Navy SEAL (Sea, Air, and Land) Team 6 commandos carried out the extraction as part of a large-scale operation involving hundreds of special operations forces and other military personnel.
Sources told Axios that both the F-15 pilot and the weapons systems officer established contact through their communication systems after ejecting on Friday. The pilot was rescued a few hours after the aircraft was shot down.
During that mission, Iran attacked a US Black Hawk helicopter, injuring crew members, though it remained operational. It took more than a day to find and rescue the weapons system officer.
According to the NYT, the officer had taken cover inside a mountain crevice. At first, neither the US forces trying to reach him nor the Iranians searching for him knew his exact location.
A senior administration official told Axios that before the weapons system officer was located, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) ran a deception effort. It spread information inside Iran suggesting US forces had already found him and were planning a ground exfiltration. At the same time, the agency used “unique capabilities” to track his position.
The official said the CIA later shared his exact location with the Pentagon, the US military and the White House. Trump then gave the order for an immediate rescue mission.
The F-15E fighter jet was shot down in a part of Iran where there is notable opposition to the Iranian government. As a result, reports suggest the airman may have received help and shelter from local residents.
The extraction
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) also deployed forces to the area in an attempt to block the rescue, officials told Axios.
However, US Air Force jets carried out strikes on Iranian forces to stop them from reaching the location, they added.
All the commandos and the weapons system officer returned safely, a senior US military official told NYT.
Rescue aircraft later took the injured airman to Kuwait for treatment.
With inputs from agencies
