The United States Air Force has lost a two-seat fighter-bomber, the F-15E Strike Eagle, during combat operations over southwestern Iran earlier today. A search-and-rescue operation successfully recovered one crew member, while efforts to locate the second are ongoing.
At the same time, Iranian efforts to find the missing American pilot are also underway. State television broadcast an appeal urging civilians in Kohgiluyeh, Boyer-Ahmad, and nearby rural provinces to locate and hand over the pilot, offering a reward of $60,000.
According to local media reports, presenters instructed viewers to hand over any captured personnel to authorities and, in some messages, to target aircraft flying overhead. This marks an unusual and provocative step in the conflict, signaling Tehran’s willingness to mobilize civilians in direct support of military objectives.
Meanwhile, a Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II (A-10 Warthog) also crashed, bringing the number of downed U.S. aircraft in recent hours to two. In this case, the pilot was successfully rescued.
