An American F-35 Lightning II fighter jet operating over Iran made an emergency landing on Thursday afternoon. The pilot is in “stable” condition, and an investigation is ongoing.
An F-35 Lightning II was forced to make an emergency landing at an undisclosed air base in the Middle East on Thursday, United States Central Command (CENTCOM) has confirmed. Multiple sources are reporting that the fifth-generation stealth fire was hit by Iranian ground fire, but Capt. Tim Hawkins, CENTCOM spokesperson, would only acknowledge that the aircraft was “flying a combat mission over Iran.”
“The aircraft landed safely, and the pilot is in stable condition,” Hawkins said, adding that an investigation is ongoing. No other information has been released on the condition of the pilot or the aircraft.
Each F-35 has a price tag of around $100 million.
CENTCOM Is Ahead of the Story
To date, no F-35 has ever been shot down in combat operations, but around a dozen have been lost to mishaps. Past crashes have been blamed on mechanical failures and pilot errors. If confirmed, this would likely be the first time the multirole fighter has taken damage from enemy ground fire.
Iran has a history of making unsubstantiated claims of shooting down the F-35 or destroying the aircraft on the ground. However, the Islamic Republic did not state that its air defenses damaged a Lightning II fighter jet before the reports came in of the emergency landing.
CENTCOM also didn’t specify which variant of the Joint Strike Fighter was involved in the incident. The United States Air Force F-35A, the conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) variant, and the United States Navy’s carrier-based F-35C model, have each been conducting strikes on the Islamic Republic.
The United States Navy’s America-class amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli (LHA-7) is now heading to the Middle East. It operates with the F-35B, the short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) variant of the Lightning II. However, the F-35Bs are still outside range of Iran, and none are known to have participated in Operation Epic Fury.
In addition to the American F-35 wing, the Israel Air Force (IAF) operates 48 F-35I Adir, a specialized model outfitted with an Israeli-specific electronic warfare (EW) suite. An IAF Adir scored the first air-to-air kill of a manned fighter for the first time this month, downing an Iranian Yak-130 (NATO reporting name “Mitten”) subsonic light combat fighter. CENTCOM clarified that the aircraft involved in the incident was American rather than Israeli.
British F-35B Lightnings, operating from Royal Air Force (RAF) bases in the region, have also been conducting defensive sorties near Iran, including downing several Iranian drones over Jordan.
Four US Air Force Aircraft Have Been Lost Against Iran
The extent of the damage to the F-35 is unknown, so it remains unclear whether the warplane will return to service.
The US Air Force has seen four of its aircraft lost in the ongoing Operation Epic Fury—three to friendly fire and one to an unspecified crash.
Three F-15E Strike Eagles were mistakenly shot down by Kuwaiti air defenses, with some reports stating it was a Kuwaiti F/A-18 Hornet that shot down the fighters. All six crew members safely ejected and suffered no serious injuries.
Last week, another six airmen were killed after their KC-135 Stratotanker aerial refueler crashed in western Iraq. The US military has said that the incident was “not due to hostile fire or friendly fire,” and an investigation is also underway.
About the Author: Peter Suciu
Peter Suciu has contributed to dozens of newspapers, magazines and websites over a 30-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a contributing writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. He is based in Michigan. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author: [email protected].
