By Nate Wolf
A search-and-rescue mission is underway after an American F-15E fighter jet was downed over Iran, according to multiple media reports.
The plane's pilot was rescued alive, reports said, while the search for the second crew-member, a weapons-system officer, appeared to focus on the province of Khuzestan along the Persian Gulf. The condition of the pair wasn't immediately clear.
Representatives from the White House and the Department of Defense didn't immediately respond to Barron's requests for comment.
The incident marks the first time a U.S. jet has gone down inside Iran since the war began over a month ago. Kuwaiti forces mistakenly shot down three F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jets on March 1.
The F-15 is a twin-engine fighter jet created by McDonnell Douglas that was introduced in the 1970s. The F-15E series, which has two seats, entered service in the 1980s, with the U.S. military using them in the Persian Gulf in 1991 as part of Operation Desert Storm.
McDonnell Douglas merged with Boeing in 1997, and Boeing continues to manufacture the F-15EX Eagle II jet in St. Louis. The Eagle II, a so-called fourth-generation fighter, costs around $90 million per jet.
That price is similar to Lockheed Martin's F-35, which is one of two newer, fifth-generation fighters used by the U.S. military. The Air Force awarded its sixth-generation fighter jet program, the F-47, to Boeing last year.
Write to Nate Wolf at nate.wolf@barrons.com
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April 03, 2026 12:33 ET (16:33 GMT)
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