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Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org<\/p>\n
A U.S. Air Force F-35A pilot suffered shrapnel wounds after their aircraft was damaged during a combat mission over Iran on March 19, people familiar with the matter told Air & Space Forces Magazine.<\/p>\n
The aircraft was hit by ground fire<\/a>. Though U.S. Central Command has not provided details, the aircraft was most likely damaged by a surface-to-air missile rather than by small-arms fire or another projectile, given the altitude at which the F-35 typically flies. The incident is under investigation, according to U.S. military officials.\t\t<\/p>\n The aircraft later made an emergency landing at an air base in the region, a spokesperson for U.S. Central Command previously said, adding that the pilot was in \u201cstable condition.\u201d<\/p>\n A spokesperson for Central Command declined to comment March 22 when asked about the incident.<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps posted a video on March 19 purporting to show an F-35 being targeted and struck by an Iranian air defense system. The authenticity of the video has not been confirmed.\u00a0<\/p>\n On March 22, Iran said it unsuccessfully targeted an F-15E Strike Eagle<\/a> with a surface-to-air missile near the Iranian coast. The semi-official Tasnim news agency posted a video<\/a> of a purported engagement in which the targeted aircraft appears to dispense flares to counter the threat. Air & Space Forces Magazine has not confirmed the authenticity of Iran\u2019s claims or of the video.<\/p>\n In the March 19 incident, the IRGC said that it \u201cseverely damaged\u201d the F-35 in its strike. The U.S. military has not commented on the extent of damage to the aircraft.\t\t<\/p>\n Iran has developed air defense systems that can use passive infrared sensors rather than radar to target aircraft, a solution that previously proved effective in Yemen when employed by the Iranian-backed Houthis, which downed around half a dozen MQ-9 Reaper<\/a>s during Operation Rough Rider last year. The stealthy F-35 evades radar, but infrared sensors home in on heat.<\/p>\n The F-35 is now one of around 20 U.S. Air Force aircraft known to be damaged or destroyed in the nearly three-week-old Iran war.<\/p>\n Three F-15E Strike Eagles were shot down by Kuwaiti F\/A-18 aircraft in a friendly fire incident<\/a> on March 2, according to people familiar with that incident. All crew members were recovered safely.<\/p>\n On March 12, a KC-135 Stratotanker<\/a> crashed in western Iraq, killing all six Airmen aboard<\/a>. Another KC-135 had its tail severely damaged in the same incident but landed safely. In a March 14 social media post, President Donald Trump appeared to confirm that at least one KC-135 was damaged on the ground by Iranian attacks on Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n