US media reports indicate that Iranian air defenses have downed multiple US military aircraft during ongoing operations, contradicting claims by US President Donald Trump just a day earlier that Iran’s air defenses and radar systems had been “completely destroyed.”
According to the reports, an F-15 fighter jet was shot down over Iranian territory. While the pilot was rescued, the navigator remains missing, with no official confirmation of his fate.
In a related incident, a Black Hawk rescue helicopter came under fire from Iranian air defenses while searching for the downed crew.
Separately, an A-10 attack aircraft was also reportedly shot down, crashing into Gulf waters near the Strait of Hormuz, with initial accounts indicating the pilot was recovered.
Further developments include an F-16 declaring an in-flight emergency and diverting to Saudi Arabia for an emergency landing, while an aerial refueling tanker reportedly faced threats during the operation.
An American 🇺🇸 F-16 has reportedly been struck over Iraq 🇮🇶 while heading toward Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦, with the aircraft transmitting the emergency transponder code 7700, signaling the crew is dealing with a serious in-flight crisis. If confirmed, the loss of another frontline US… pic.twitter.com/eiXyrmWtQh
— Captain Tytan (@captaintytan) April 3, 2026
The series of incidents points to a contested airspace over Iran, raising questions about the effectiveness of earlier US claims and signaling a potential escalation as speculation grows over possible ground operations.
Such events puncture the Trump administration’s claims about its complete dominance of the skies over Iran — along with the veneer of impenetrability it has attempted to construct over the past month.
Trump and his Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have suggested the United States and ‘Israel’ had something amounting to free rein to fly over Iran. They cast Tehran as having no ability to counteract that.
At a March 4 briefing — nearly a full month ago — Hegseth said that such dominance was just around the corner.
“Starting last night, and to be completed in a few days in under a week, the two most powerful air forces in the world will have complete control of Iranian skies,” Hegseth said. He called it “uncontested airspace.”
“And Iran will be able to do nothing about it,” he added.
Trump has also played up this air dominance over the past two weeks.
“And we literally have planes flying over Tehran and other parts of their country; they can’t do a thing about it,” he said on March 24. He added that the United States could strike a power plant, and “they can’t do a thing about it.”
The US president has said for weeks that Iran had “no navy,” “no military,” “no air force” and “no anti-aircraft systems.” In a White House address Wednesday night, he said he could hit Iran’s oil facilities, “and there’s not a thing they could do about it.
“They have no anti-aircraft equipment. Their radar is 100% annihilated,” Trump said. “We are unstoppable as a military force.”
🚨WATCH: But Trump said on Iran, “They have no anti-aircraft equipment. Their radar is 100% annihilated. We are unstoppable as a military force.” pic.twitter.com/3mcEITI1XX
— THE GLOBAL WATCHDOG (@glwatchdog) April 3, 2026
Source: Agencies (translated and edited by Al-Manar)