(WASHINGTON) — A U.S. fighter jet appears to have been shot down by Iran over Iranian territory, American officials confirmed to ABC News, marking a new and potentially dangerous point in the conflict.
One crew member aboard the downed two-seater F-15E has been rescued, according to two U.S. officials. The status of the other crew member is unknown, according to the official, and the search and rescue effort continues.
Combat search and rescue missions have become relatively rare for U.S. forces after more than a generation of near-total air dominance, with American aircraft typically operating with limited threats to aircraft in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The early indications that the U.S. fighter was brought down by enemy fire would mark the first time Iran has successfully downed a manned American aircraft in the war, which started in February.
In late March, an American F-18 fighter jet narrowly dodged an Iranian surface-to-air missile, according to a U.S. official. Earlier that month, an American F-35, the Pentagon’s most advanced stealth fighter jet, had to make an emergency landing after being struck by Iranian fire. Three F-15s were also brought down over Kuwait in a friendly fire episode earlier in the war, though all six pilots ejected safely, according to U.S. officials.
There are photos of the fighter jet that were released by Iranian state media that have not been independently verified by ABC News.
President Donald Trump has been briefed on the downed fighter jet, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. Another U.S. official said Trump has been briefed on the rescue and condition of the recovered crew member.
Hegseth, Trump touted American air dominance over Iran
The incident comes after Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and other U.S. officials have said that Iran’s military capabilities have been severely crippled and that the U.S. has “total air dominance” over Iran.
Trump, in a primetime address to the nation earlier this week, said the U.S. was “nearing completion” of its military objectives and that Tehran’s anti-aircraft abilities had been decimated.
“We’ve done all of it. Their navy is gone. Their air force is gone. Their missiles are just about used up or beaten,” Trump said in his speech on Wednesday night.
“They have no anti-aircraft equipment,” Trump added in his remarks. “Their radar is 100% annihilated. We are unstoppable as a military force.”
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has made a number of false claims about U.S. aircraft being downed but the U.S. has pushed back on those.
Iran has maintained at least some ability to continue with attacks targeting U.S. facilities in the Middle East and other countries in the region, wounding more than 300 U.S. service members, according to U.S. officials. The number of wounded has increased at a relatively steady rate each week, data reviewed by ABC News shows. Thirteen service members have been killed in action since the war began five weeks ago, according to Pentagon data.
Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, with whom Trump has said he is negotiating, taunted the U.S. over the missing crew member in a social media post on Friday.
In the post, Ghalibaf suggested that the U.S. war effort had shifted from pursuing “regime change” to trying to locate and rescue downed pilots.
Ghalibaf was the first top authority of the Islamic Republic to comment on the missing crew members.
Trump told ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl in a phone call earlier this week that the new leadership is better than what Iran had before.
Former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Michael Ratney called the Iranian attack “disturbing” in an interview on ABC News Live.
“As a war like this drags on, it becomes increasingly likely that some incident like this happens. It’s disturbing for a couple of reasons. One is it potentially represents a major escalation. If the missing crew member remains missing, huge political pressure in the United States to do anything to find that person. I dare say they’ll be uncompromising,” Ratney told ABC News Live’s Elizabeth Schulze on Friday. “The other problem is it becomes just a huge political preoccupation in the United States. It becomes the sole story anybody thinks about. At the same time, the war is still going on, and there’s a lot of crises globally at this point.”
What do pilots do to prepare for being shot down?
Pilots undergo training in SERE — which stands for Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape. It’s a program designed to prepare them for the possibility of isolation behind enemy lines.
Under survival training, airmen are taught to stabilize themselves in the immediate aftermath of an incident, administering self-aid if wounded and securing basic necessities such as shelter, water and food, according to publicly available Air Force training materials.
Survival training often dictates the pilot leave the crash area, as it’s likely to be a focal point for hostile forces.
“To stay in the vicinity of the crash or parachute landing site may lead to capture,” an Air Force training manual on pilot survival training says.
Evasion training follows — during which pilots learn how to move undetected through hostile terrain, according to the training materials. Pilots learn to navigate using maps and compasses, as well as natural cues such as stars and terrain features including rivers, bridges and other landmarks to orient themselves and move toward friendly forces.
The curriculum also includes resistance techniques aimed at helping troops endure interrogation and psychological pressure if captured. Finally, escape training focuses on recognizing vulnerabilities in captivity and exploiting opportunities to break free, according to the training materials.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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