Wednesday, July 22, 2026

Operation Epic Fury: U.S. military suffers casualties, aircraft loss as Iran’s war rages on

Two U.S. military fighter jets—an A-10 Warthog attack aircraft and an Air Force F-15E—were shot down in separate attacks on Friday.

• April 7, 2026
Crashed U.S. fighter jet
Crashed U.S. fighter jet [credit :Global news]

Today is the deadline, a doomsday U.S. President Donald Trump warned about if Iran refused to capitulate. Mr Trump threatened fire and fury. There are a few hours to that apocalyptic-like destruction the U.S. president announced in his fire-and-brimstone threat.

In its military campaign against Iran, the American government has had to count its losses too on the battlefield.

Two U.S. military fighter jets—an A-10 Warthog attack aircraft and an Air Force F-15E—were shot down in separate attacks on Friday, adding to the list of planes lost since the launch of ‘Operation Epic Fury’, the joint military operations with Israel against Iran on February 28.

Following the F-15E fighter plane’s downing in the Persian Gulf region, the Iranian military’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters confirmed that air defences shot it down. The military also claimed responsibility for the A-10 aircraft downed near the Strait of Hormuz.

Since the war against Iran began, at least six United States military aircraft have been lost, and at least 16 General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper drones have either been damaged or lost through accidents and missile and drone attacks.

As of early April, at least 13 U.S. military officers have been killed: seven died in action and six others in an aircraft crash. Over 300 military personnel have been injured.

Kuwaiti forces “mistakenly shot down” three American F-15E fighter jets in support of Operation Epic Fury on March 1. One was downed near Al Jahra in central Kuwait, and two others were struck down near Kuwait. No casualties were recorded, as all six crew members (two per jet) were ejected.

On March 2, a drone strike by Iranian forces resulted in a fire outbreak near the U.S. consulate in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

On March 5, United States officials told CBS News that three U.S. General Atomics MQ-9 Reapers crashed in Iran: one MQ-9A Reaper on the Iranian coast, one downed near Khorramabad, and the location of the third was unspecified.

On March 12, the U.S. KC‑135 military refuelling tanker crashed in “friendly airspace” in western Iraq, killing all six crew members.

According to the United States Central Command, the incident involved two aircraft: a U.S. Air Force KC-135 that lost control and a U.S. Navy F/A-18F that landed safely.

“However, the loss of the aircraft was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire,” it said.

The KC-135 was the fourth aircraft to be lost in the war. The deaths recorded brought the total deaths at that time to 11.

An Iranian ground fire likely damaged a U.S. Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II on March 19, forcing the aircraft to make an emergency landing at the U.S. airbase in the Middle East. Although there were no deaths, reports said the pilot suffered wounds but was in a stable condition.

The U.S. Army’s 4th Combat Aviation Brigade Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter was also damaged by an Islamic Resistance drone strike at Camp Victory, Baghdad International Airport in Iraq.

On March 27, multiple U.S. aircraft, including one Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker and one Boeing E-3 Sentry AWACS, were damaged following a missile and drone attack by Iran on Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. At least 29 U.S. military officers were wounded in the attack.

According to Iranian authorities, over 2,000 people, including women and children, have been killed and over 26,000 wounded in Iran since the U.S. and Israel launched joint attacks in the Islamic Republic.

Mr Trump has repeatedly attributed the attack on Iran to the Islamic country’s nuclear weapons and insisted it remained a threat to America and other countries.

CENTCOM said in an X post on April 1 that the U.S. military had flown over 12,000 combat flights directly since Operation Epic Fury.

Since the February 28 attacks that killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other top officials, the U.S. forces have targeted Iranian navy ships and submarines, air defence systems, anti-ship missile sites, military communication capabilities, weapons production and storage bunkers, IRGC headquarters buildings, and intelligence sites.

Iran has been retaliating, firing missiles targeting Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office. Several U.S. military bases in the Gulf countries were also targeted.

Iran has also shut down the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow channel through which 20 per cent of the world’s oil and gas is shipped, for four weeks. This resulted in a surge in global oil prices, with oil currently trading at about $115 per barrel.

Mr Trump on Sunday threatened to obliterate all power plants and bridges in Iran if it failed to open the Strait on Tuesday in what seemed like a final ultimatum after several negotiations to end the war through diplomatic channels reached an impasse.

“Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran,” the U.S. leader wrote on Truth Social. “There will be nothing like it!!! Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah,” Mr Trump declared.

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