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F-15E jet shot down over Iran

theguardian.com

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Re: F-15E jet shot down over Iran

#241

Post by zabzonk »

kackerlacker wrote: post #207
fooey wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

New reporting that an A-10 ~was also shot down~ has also gone down (unconfirmed if it was shot down) https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/04/03/world/iran-war-trump... > A second Air Force combat plane crashed in the Persian Gulf region on Friday, and the lone pilot was safely rescued, according to two U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters. The A-10 Warthog attack plane went d…

This is exactly the situation I think of when I hear news of rescue missions. Running a rescue in a place with functional air defense is a recursive rescue problem that could quickly get out of control.

The US did it all the time in Vietnam.

Re: F-15E jet shot down over Iran

#242

Post by drnick1 »

praptak wrote: post #218
nutjob2 wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It'll probably come in the form of permanent $5+/gal gas.

Oil is still underpriced wrt to its environmental cost. It is good to see at least the political cost being accounted for.

> Oil is still underpriced wrt to its environmental cost.

This may well be true, but we still haven't found a better fuel. Sure, we have electric cars, but they are still too expensive for the masses, or impractical, e.g. for apartment dwellers. Besides, oil has countless other uses besides as fuel for vehicles.

Re: F-15E jet shot down over Iran

#243

Post by praptak »

asdff wrote: post #147
roadbuster wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They certainly have, but the general idea is to first use stealth jets to bomb defensive systems (including radar observability) to conquer the skies, and then you can fly around somewhat freely. While SAM technology has improved, so have America's observability and stealth bombing capabilities. It will be interesting to learn the context and sequence of events which led to an F-15 being shot down by enemy fire. (In…

Turns out Iran is good at hiding stuff in caves and driving it out on a truck platform. Who would have known?

The Serbs successfully used a similar tactic to down an F-117A, so yeah.

Re: F-15E jet shot down over Iran

#244

Post by CharlieDigital »

jmyeet wrote: post #214
estearum wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seems to me their strategy is to shut down the Strait as cheaply as possible, force ground operations on known strategic points of interest, then just missile and drone strike Americans in Iranian territory where they have ~no air defense.

There are 4 players in this war and they all have very different goals and "victory" conditions. 1. Israel wants to ruin Iran permanently, to turn it into Somalia 2.0, meaning a quasi-state with no organized, central government. Were they to succeed in this it would be a humantarian disaster the likes of which we haven't seen since probably WW2. Tens of millions of refugees that will probably collapse surrounding cou…

Not sure how the US comes back from this.

Who will trust US treaties going forward?

Re: F-15E jet shot down over Iran

#246

Post by TheOtherHobbes »

jmyeet wrote: post #214
estearum wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seems to me their strategy is to shut down the Strait as cheaply as possible, force ground operations on known strategic points of interest, then just missile and drone strike Americans in Iranian territory where they have ~no air defense.

There are 4 players in this war and they all have very different goals and "victory" conditions. 1. Israel wants to ruin Iran permanently, to turn it into Somalia 2.0, meaning a quasi-state with no organized, central government. Were they to succeed in this it would be a humantarian disaster the likes of which we haven't seen since probably WW2. Tens of millions of refugees that will probably collapse surrounding cou…

You forgot the 5th actor - Russia - which is benefiting hugely from the collapse of NATO, the loosening of oil sanctions, the huge hike in oil prices, and the way the US was persuaded to expend a ridiculous percentage of its conventional missile stockpiles on a pointless project.

Ukraine is doing its best to minimise Russian oil exports, and that's certainly having an effect.

But strategically, Russia is a huge beneficiary of this mess.

Re: F-15E jet shot down over Iran

#247

Post by seanw444 »

ericmay wrote: post #220
cjbgkagh wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m reading one of those Blackhawks was shot down. An A-10, F-16, and a refueling plane, in addition to the F-15 so far today. Which, if true, is not a good sign.

[flagged]

Not sure why you're getting downvoted. It is completely expected to lose aircraft in an operation of this scale, against an opponent with this level of sophistication. People put way too much stock in all of these modern stealth systems and whatnot. Stealth, for example, is a buzzword. It will give a slight edge, but it's not going to make your aircraft completely invisible and unshootable.

Re: F-15E jet shot down over Iran

#248

Post by buzzerbetrayed »

roadbuster wrote: post #116

During the entire gulf war (Iraq, 1990-91), only two F-15s were shot down via surface-to-air engagement. At the time, Baghdad was known to have the highest density of SAM protection out of any city in the world. An F-15 being shot down in Iran after weeks of strategic bombing of their anti-air defense systems is not a good sign.

Seriously. Makes me glad we attacked when we did. They could have bolstered their anti air defenses even more.

Re: F-15E jet shot down over Iran

#249

Post by Arubis »

ericmay wrote: post #213
nutjob2 wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It'll probably come in the form of permanent $5+/gal gas.

We got through it in 2022. We can get through it again. Though unfortunately Americans will learn the wrong lesson from this which should be to reduce dependency on oil for every day life. We should be aiming to have fewer cars and abandon car-only transportation as policy, and more sidewalks, trams, bike lanes, and better medium density mixed-use development. But if folks want to have Ford F-250s and drive 15 miles…

Another good lesson could potentially be that going to war as a sideshow to distract from a news cycle that threatened people in power is not the best choice for the world at large.

Re: F-15E jet shot down over Iran

#250

Post by timcobb »

roadbuster wrote: post #116

During the entire gulf war (Iraq, 1990-91), only two F-15s were shot down via surface-to-air engagement. At the time, Baghdad was known to have the highest density of SAM protection out of any city in the world. An F-15 being shot down in Iran after weeks of strategic bombing of their anti-air defense systems is not a good sign.

You can't really take out "the whole" air defense system because there will always be folks out with MANPAD-type things, those will score hits on occasion. That's probably what we saw here. I doubt MANPADs were nearly as common in the early 90s as they are today.
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