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News & Current Events Apr 3, 2026 at 7:14 PM

U.S. fighter jet downed over Iran, one pilot rescued, official says

Posted by ibddevine

U.S. fighter jet downed over Iran, one pilot rescued, official says
NBC News
U.S. fighter jet downed over Iran, one pilot rescued, official says
Regional Iranian officials have denied reports that one of the pilots from the downed American aircraft has been found and arrested.
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SomewhereNo8378 Apr 3, 2026 +1255
why don’t any of these headlines convey the fact that there is still one american missing?
1255
ForsakenRacism Apr 3, 2026 +780
Cus the DOD banned reporters and isn’t announcing on injuries or deaths anymore.
780
chiefmackdaddypuff Apr 3, 2026 +263
Dropsite has been running a report stating close to 750 have been wounded or dead. Closer to the initial Iranian estimates.  Take everything our gov says with a grain of salt. Applies to other parties too, but right now, they have a better track record. 
263
Drekkful Apr 3, 2026 +214
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2026/03/05/largest-us-military-hospital-abroad-halts-labor-delivery-services-amid-iran-war/ The DOD is f****** lying. Our German military hospital has cut Pediatric/OBGYN services to provide more people taking in injuries.
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22stanmanplanjam11 Apr 3, 2026 +86
Landstuhl has like 60 beds. Largest US military hospital abroad makes it sound bigger than it is.
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Toomanyeastereggs Apr 3, 2026 +33
It’s a modern MASH. Stabilise and get them home.
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DissKhorse Apr 3, 2026 +6
[Yeah but does it have tents being used?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combat_support_hospital) US military can scale up a field hospital as needed. Also denying healthcare for the war is Trumps bread and butter as he is saying we need to end Medicare and Medicaid to finance the war.
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4g-identity Apr 3, 2026 +55
Yeah literally all of us who live near Rammstein have been seeing it. Lotta injuries; no idea what the protocol is for the dead.
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androidfig Apr 3, 2026 +11
Hide the bodies. They are all losers, right Trump?
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OneSignal6465 Apr 3, 2026 +25
A “grain” of salt? Take whatever the US government says with a cow’s salt lick! Hell, take what Trump says with a dump truck full of salt. (Sea Salt from Israel)
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Mars445 Apr 3, 2026 +13
That’s complete bullshit, because you would be hearing about that military social media and the military spouse community. Official US government communications are highly suspect with this administration but don’t forget that Iranian state media has been peddling lies and falsehoods for decades
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JesterMarcus Apr 3, 2026 +37
What they probably mean is that there are like 735 injured, and 15 dead or something. Because you're right. Families and friends learn shit real fast, faster than official channels disclose even. I remember accidents and deaths on my deployment and my girlfriend back home knew about them within a couple of days or weeks. Long before I was allowed to tell her anything. Not to mention, what about this administration tells people they are competent enough to keep a secret like that?
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Mars445 Apr 3, 2026 +12
Possibly true, although there may be a varying degree of injury. If there was a massive influx of serious injuries we’d probably hear about it in the US’s military hospitals closer to the region.
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JesterMarcus Apr 3, 2026 +7
Yeah I bet the majority of those injuries are probably pretty minor.
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hotdogcityleague Apr 4, 2026 +2
Yeah because I mean wouldn’t the first thing someone who was in this position and hurt, be to ask someone at that hospital, once away from enemy lines etc, they’re in a hospital, for a phone and then call home to say hey I’m not dying … I mean idk what would they do
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nuadarstark Apr 4, 2026 +2
But look at the info Germans are providing here on the thread, there is a lot of wounded people being transported there. We don't know how serious the injuries are and what the plans are but the US hospitals in German have prepared for mass casualties and have cleared out nearly all of their non-pregnancy patients before the war. Landstuhl is exactly the kind of a facility most of these would get moved towards and you get a lot more control over the information flow if you keep your wounded in such facilities. There are like 22 US military hospitals throughout Europe so there is quite a lot of space...
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smileyfrown Apr 3, 2026 +3
That’s literally what the report says a lot more injured from official sources and I think 2 more dead from the official count They are IMO very reliable and OP’s “and” is doing heavy lifting there
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chubbysumo Apr 3, 2026 +26
US military members are not allowed phones or electronics in the field anymore, and have been cut off from communications with home or anywhere by orders to keep the actual death toll under wraps.
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Loose_Profession_918 Apr 3, 2026 +17
Thats not why theyre banned at all... and this isn't something new. Military forces strictly ban or restrict personal communication devices, including smartphones, smartwatches, and fitness trackers, during war and in operational zones to prevent geolocation tracking and electromagnetic signal detection by enemies. These devices can compromise mission security, reveal troop locations via data metadata, or create security risks in classified areas.
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chubbysumo Apr 3, 2026 +5
just let em play warthunder instead....
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[deleted] Apr 3, 2026 +3
[removed]
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chubbysumo Apr 3, 2026 +2
well, what happened in Korea? It took a long time for Korean war vets to get recognized. We are literally watching the same happen here.
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freedfg Apr 3, 2026 +15
Yeah. Really waiting to hear an updated death count. Because it's for sure not 9 anymore.
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22stanmanplanjam11 Apr 3, 2026 +10
We've gotten an updated count. It's 15.
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sgettios737 Apr 3, 2026 +6
Um that’s DoW what do you think this is the Gulf of Mexico????
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vapidamerica Apr 3, 2026 +4
And wait until *that* DoW hits 50,000 (body count)…
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front_yard_duck_dad Apr 4, 2026 +2
They have to get the propaganda ready for Black hawk down. 2.0 Iranian boogaloo
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donnerpartytaconight Apr 3, 2026 +46
Because for people that support this admin, 50% is a passing grade.
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Annual-Advisor-7916 Apr 3, 2026 +32
Two are missing. An A-10 crashed and a F-15E was shot down. That makes 3 crew members. From other news it seems they recued the A-10 pilot and not the F-15E crew.
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Fluffy_Marionberry54 Apr 3, 2026 +22
Yeah, there’s not a lot of clear info going around with there being two incidents, but I think it’s fair to assume the F-15E crew are still MIA at this point.
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Annual-Advisor-7916 Apr 3, 2026 +16
Yep, the A-10 reportedly crashed near to the border, which makes rescue operations quite a bit easier compared to where the F-15E crashed. I doubt though that the A-10 crashed by itself, it's a quite reliable aircraft and only 7 were ever lost outside of combat.
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BarnytheBrit Apr 3, 2026 +13
UK news just reported the A10 went down in the Persian Gulf all involved are safe. F-15 crew are missing - 2 Blackhawks on the SAR mission have been hit and damaged by small arms fire whilst searching. Iranian State TV have placed a bounty on the crew
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Annual-Advisor-7916 Apr 3, 2026 +4
Reportedly it was cops shooting on the Blackhawks. Shoudn't be too dangerous for them though, the hydraulic and electric circuitry on Blackhawks is insanely redundant. Once saw a graphic describing tolerated damage - it was quite impressive!
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znightmaree Apr 3, 2026 +66
Because they don’t want Iran to have leverage
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finnigansache Apr 3, 2026 +85
Narrator: Iran has leverage.
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Optimus_Prime_10 Apr 3, 2026 +6
Narrator's Narrator: The article quotes Trump confirming it as a "War", which he started. Leverage is reductive, pardon the interruption. 
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[deleted] Apr 3, 2026 +6
[deleted]
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znightmaree Apr 3, 2026 +5
The U.S. clearly isn’t sending their best…
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Serpentongue Apr 3, 2026 +16
Of that there was a second plane, an A-10, that was also shot down.
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CombatMuffin Apr 3, 2026 +5
It's not incredibly critical for a headline, depending on the outlet and thenintended audience. I agree it would be better for  aomething like the NBC, which targets demographics that might not know the F-15E has both a pilot and a WSO, to mention an airman is still missing (the headline implies the aircraft has two pilots, which is wrong). But here's the kicker: the article itself addresses all those points in the first lines by mentioning the aircraft has two crew members, and only ine has been rescued. So yeah, it's yet another reminded not to bite to hard into headlines.
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Ocean-of-Mirrors Apr 4, 2026 +2
Media is actually fully complicit now. I mean it’s a propaganda machine.
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Definitelyhereforshi Apr 3, 2026 +4
All this assumes the 1 guy actually was rescued, as well. 
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Pristine_Zone_4843 Apr 3, 2026 +2
Cuz that would make our greatest president of all time look bad!
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TachiH Apr 3, 2026 +1
They wouldn't report on their status if they had to inform the family first. One rescued but not the other doesn't sound great from a got out the plane point of view.
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HighburyOnStrand Apr 3, 2026 +1
...and another plane was shot down, apparently.
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CrittyJJones Apr 3, 2026 +1
Same reason they can't report the real death toll.
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CreateChaos777 Apr 4, 2026 +1
Could be 2 missing I think from the F-15E, they only recovered the one pilot that was flying the A10 as of my understanding.(F-15E is a 2-seater aircraft)
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kwyjibo1 Apr 3, 2026 +283
I thought we won and the war was over. I mean thats what it sounded like during Trump's ramblings the other night. Was he wrong or was he lying?
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IrishRage42 Apr 3, 2026 +73
When is he not lying?
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JesterMarcus Apr 3, 2026 +30
When he's asleep during meetings.
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xynith116 Apr 3, 2026 +10
You think he doesn’t also lie in his dreams?
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JesterMarcus Apr 3, 2026 +11
I imagine most of what he sees when sleeping is his dad calling him a failure. So, not really a lie.
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IaMm1N3 Apr 3, 2026 +7
I like that idea
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fattes Apr 3, 2026 +1
When he says if he were king things would be different
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Srnkanator Apr 3, 2026 +7
Both are always true.
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Notagenome Apr 3, 2026 +3
Brother didn't you hear, we're at war with Eurasia this week.
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Levarien Apr 4, 2026 +3
Was his mouth moving?
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IaMm1N3 Apr 3, 2026 +1
Well there is also the fact that they aren't telling him this. He's getting a very carefully crafted video every morning
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KindofCrazyScientist Apr 3, 2026 +1
Usually, he's wrong and lying.
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SunsetCarcass Apr 3, 2026 +1
Its not a war, and Iran's air radars and air defences were obliterated, Trump said so a while ago. Also, those evil Iranians used their air radars and air defences to attack us, even though we already won the war. This not war will be over after 2 weeks, then 90 peace deals, in 90 days.
1
shalomcruz Apr 3, 2026 +150
"One pilot rescued" Unfucking believable. These corporate news operations are f****** trash.
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GYN-k4H-Q3z-75B Apr 3, 2026 +30
They were trash before, and somehow they managed to be even more trash after Trump came back.
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chillinwithchilis Apr 4, 2026 +1
Itsone of the reasons he got elected. He trashed usa media and was right
1
YouLegitimate4400 Apr 3, 2026 +240
New York Times reported the second plane was an A10 warthog shot down near Kharg island... I wonder what it was doing over there? /s
240
TraditionalGap1 Apr 3, 2026 +151
It's no secret; A-10s have been active against Iranian naval assets and coastal installations for awhile now
151
tht1guy63 Apr 3, 2026 +76
Yup they found a new role. Slow enough to get good id on small naval craft while also being cheaper to engage them with than other jets and hang out longer than a helicopter could
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TheRealistoftheReal Apr 3, 2026 +64
But also falling into the trap the USAF has been complaining about for years. In a contested environment, with modern air defense, they’re cannon fodder and not survivable. They were not even expected to last long during the Cold War, just slow down Soviet armor.
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TraditionalGap1 Apr 3, 2026 +14
Are they actually though? Two shoot-downs in more than a month of high intensity aerial bombardment is, if anything, absurdly low
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TheRealistoftheReal Apr 3, 2026 +10
Assuming you can go in and completely wipe out enemy air defense, but that’s increasingly non-plausible in modern warfare. Ukraine is a good example. Agree, U.S. losses are minimal considering the amount of strategic assets eliminated, taking out an entire countries key leadership, etc.
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Particular-Fix-3187 Apr 3, 2026 +26
The A10 has not been operational in this theater in this specific war until a few days ago.
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22stanmanplanjam11 Apr 3, 2026 +16
https://www.dvidshub.net/image/9560825/10-thunderbolt-ii-supports-operation-epic-fury They've been using them for closer to a month.
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What-a-Crock Apr 3, 2026 +3
It’s high considering we claimed their defenses have been obliterated
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SolarTsunami Apr 3, 2026 +17
You guys are moving the goalposts so far you'll probably get to the moon before the astronauts do.
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TheRealistoftheReal Apr 3, 2026 +12
Wrong. This thing started without goal posts. Can’t be moved.
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22stanmanplanjam11 Apr 3, 2026 +11
That's not moving the goal posts. We lost 60 aircraft in a month of Desert Storm and that was a historically dominant success.
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SolarTsunami Apr 3, 2026 +4
What happened to NO NEW WARS?
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22stanmanplanjam11 Apr 3, 2026 +7
Well Trump was lying obviously, that's why I didn't vote for him. This has still been a wildly successful air campaign by every measure. You can argue the strategic value doesn't exist or that it's evil, but you're supposed to lose a lot more planes when you fly over 10,000 combat sorties in a contested airspace.
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Future_Armadillo6410 Apr 3, 2026 +2
You lose zero aircraft when you don’t start a war
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22stanmanplanjam11 Apr 3, 2026 +3
Not true we lost an F-18 a couple years back when a carrier was taking evasive maneuvers because the Houthis were launching missiles at everything in the Red Sea. Pilots also crash a lot.
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TraditionalGap1 Apr 4, 2026 +3
Actually the US averages something like 15-17 hull losses annually
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TraditionalGap1 Apr 3, 2026 +1
You'd have to specify some goal posts first in order for there to be moving of goal posts.
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SolarTsunami Apr 3, 2026 +2
At the start of this the goalposts were firmly planted on NO NEW WARS and now we are patting ourselves on the back because only a few Americans and countless billions of dollars have been wasted on a new war of aggression.
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oshinbruce Apr 3, 2026 +4
I watched a YouTube video on this that left me bemused, it was pretty positive about the fact the a10 had found a new role taking out fast attack vessels and the only alternative was like a $4M naval missile. Reality is sure it can blow up boats but they cant cover the strait permanently and its likely to stay closed, the situation is a total diaster
4
lord_pizzabird Apr 3, 2026 +27
So, there was a third aircraft shot down in one day? First this morning it was an F15, then a Blackhawk helicopter that was part of the rescue efforts, and now an A10?
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YouLegitimate4400 Apr 3, 2026 +44
Black hawk was damaged but returned to base safely 
44
Srnkanator Apr 3, 2026 +22
We have started a war against one of the heaviest armed independent sovereign nation in the Middle East. With no rationale for it's instigation or purpose. I am surprised that we have had so few incidents so far.
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Alternative-Maybe747 Apr 3, 2026 +4
Third aircraft so far...
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YesHunty Apr 3, 2026
America is winning though, don’t worry. 😉
0
WackHeisenBauer Apr 3, 2026 +90
So there’s one pilot likely somewhere in Iran. Itll be interesting to see if when captured the IRGC goes the PR route or the revenge route. Hopefully for the pilot it’s the former.
90
Dantai Apr 3, 2026 +20
This literally happened in Battlefield 3 as well.
20
SolarTsunami Apr 3, 2026 +20
There's also a decent movie called Behind Enemy Lines from when Own Wilson thought he was gonna be an action star
20
jaggedjottings Apr 3, 2026 +14
Bosnia and Kosovo were interesting wars. The US (correctly) sided with Muslims against Christians, a fact that al Qaeda conveniently overlooked a few years later.
14
Luck_Beats_Skill Apr 3, 2026 +2
Hopefully the pilots seen that flick so he knows what to do
2
Dirkdeking Apr 3, 2026 +2
PR it will be. The pilot will be a valuable bargaining chip that will appear on state tv and denounce the US operation on camera. If Americans capture Iranian troops later on in a ground invasion he could be swapped for them.
2
i_am_voldemort Apr 3, 2026 +13
Meh. If I were Iran I'd treat the pilot incredibly well. I'm fact some of their official and semi official Twitter accounts have instructed the populace not to harm any downed American air crew. They want the PR win of showing they're not the aggressor / bad guy. Abusing a POW would play into Trump / Hegseth type rhetoric about how evil and depraved Iran is.
13
Nwcray Apr 3, 2026 +75
Also another one. And F-15 *and* an A-10 have been downed today. And a Blackhawk got shot, but made it back home.
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ConfidentPilot1729 Apr 3, 2026 +15
The is also an f16 that made an emergency landing in Iraq. Not sure if that was from enemy fire tho.
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[deleted] Apr 3, 2026 +64
[deleted]
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[deleted] Apr 3, 2026 +9
[deleted]
9
RandoDude124 Apr 3, 2026 +18
Limped back to base
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Lazy_Membership1849 Apr 3, 2026 +4
so it did hit
4
georgica123 Apr 3, 2026 +7
It is confirmed that they hit it, but i dont think it crashed
7
rfg8071 Apr 3, 2026 +5
Where is the A-10 confirmation article? And Blackhawk crash? Iran claimed several F-35s crashed today too and pilot captures, been too messy to see what is real or propaganda now.
5
YouLegitimate4400 Apr 3, 2026 +9
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/04/03/world/iran-war-trump-oil/47863db0-d61e-51bf-b7e1-6c4a9dc988e7?smid=url-share It's in the NYT live feed. The Blackhawk did not crash, it was damaged but returned to base. 
9
Aedeus Apr 3, 2026 +40
Imagine getting show down by air defenses that have been destroyed several times over already ^/s
40
BovaFett74 Apr 3, 2026 +9
You play war games, this is gonna happen.
9
ynotoggel19 Apr 3, 2026 +19
The lives of servicemen doesn't matter to Trump
19
Stray_Neutrino Apr 4, 2026 +1
But it does in the court of Public Opinion.
1
Pale_Sell1122 Apr 3, 2026 +23
The other pilot is not rescued. Where could he be?
23
regression4 Apr 3, 2026 +23
Either dead, on the run in Iran, or captured.
23
PandaMotor Apr 4, 2026 +6
lol, I mean yeah, those are pretty much all the options... abducted by aliens though, you didnt think of that one, did ya!
6
Creative-Hyena-2666 6 days ago +2
If captured, then I think Iran would have said something by now surely?
2
Standard-Image-8826 Apr 3, 2026 +10
eating ghormeh sabzi in the land with over 3000 years of military history
10
fattmarrell Apr 3, 2026 +3
Very expensive POW
3
iamstephen1128 Apr 3, 2026 +23
Gotta love the bots who try to argue that all of this isn't about oil while Trump is literally tweeting (truthing?) about keeping Iran's oil...
23
1nvertedAfram3 Apr 3, 2026 +1
isn't it also about people who have leverage over pedophiles?
1
iamstephen1128 Apr 3, 2026 +5
Thats the how not the why
5
HiVizUncle Apr 4, 2026 +13
"If they'd had just stayed home and minded their own business."
13
sancheu77 Apr 3, 2026 +12
Cmon, we were told this isn’t possible as their military has been “totally decimated” As in nothing left.
12
somethingrandom7386 Apr 3, 2026 +8
Are we great again yet?
8
AbbreviationsActual9 Apr 3, 2026 +14
first off, I hope the second pilot isn't captured because trump apparently considers pow's losers. I'm sure he was just kidding though but what a thing to joke about. second, hegseth has already stated that America is to show no quarter to those in Iran so that's not good. and something else, the clownishly mocking statements coming out from Iran seem to be mirror personas of Trump. it's scary as hell watching two bull headed sociopathic regimes go at it. neither has any sense or concern for human suffering. only strongman rhetoric filled to the brim with lies and propaganda. everyone is losing in this fight. Iran attacks civilians so Trump responds in kind. neither are deterred by this because they are sociopathic. and where tf is Israel? isn't this their war? and don't forget to look back at Russia during all this as they gleefully chuckle at the chaos. they just got a huge dose of military financial aid through the lifting of sanctions. they recently began pulling money from their oligarchs to fund their war. Ukraine is also no longer attacking their oil infrastructure (after their meeting with Witcoff and kushner) and now sending drones to the US that could be used against them. they may lose aid over the strait threats by Trump as well. and the big kicker is Trump toying with leaving NATO, Putin's wet dream.
14
freedom_french_fries Apr 4, 2026 +1
Israel is wreaking havoc in Lebanon and annexing land. They've killed almost as many civilians there as we have in Iran. 
1
PassageNearby4091 Apr 3, 2026 +7
Wasted lives to deflect from the Epstein Files.
7
Hellhammer2 Apr 3, 2026 +9
It's the easiest thing in the world to not be a foreign invader flying a multi million dollar death machine over another country. We all make choices in life.
9
Optimus_Prime_10 Apr 3, 2026 +4
If we rescued the pilot, does that mean we put boots on the ground technically? Not trying to be clever, genuine question. Also, can't help but notice it was a 2-seater? What's up with guy 2?
4
Battlejesus Apr 3, 2026 +14
They sent the men in the black pajamas to rescue the pilot so technically yes but not in the sense you mean, an invasion force
14
Lirael_Gold Apr 3, 2026 +3
1 crew recovered, 1 crew status unknown And yeah there will technically have been boots touching dirt during the recovery.
3
Kumimono Apr 3, 2026 +2
I'd wager it only had one pilot. Goose still missing.
2
maddiejake Apr 3, 2026 +3
I thought the Mango Mussolini said that Iran's defenses were obliterated???
3
Exalts420 Apr 4, 2026 +1
Did they rescue the one that bombed the girls schools? Or are they still searching for that one?
1
TheJewBakka Apr 3, 2026 +2
Things have changed and the defenders have the advantage now.
2
ynotoggel19 Apr 3, 2026 +2
Creating bankruptcy and genocide is the latest project of the star of the Trump-Epstein Files
2
CrittyJJones Apr 3, 2026 +1
But I thought Trump said on Wednesday that Iran had no anti-aircraft weapons left? Methinks the "Peace President" might be lying.....
1
SipowiczNYPD Apr 3, 2026 +3
That’d be a first.
3
figurative-trash Apr 3, 2026
Those who aid in the military aggression of the US regime have a special place in hell.
0
ITZOURTIMENOW Apr 3, 2026 +1
How does a U.S. fighter jet get shot down if the U.S. controls the air space in Iran? 🤔
1
braydenmaine Apr 4, 2026 +4
They don't control the ground space
4
Valuable_Educator843 Apr 3, 2026 +1
Seems like 2 jets in 24hrs. A-10 and F-15 by reports. Also a black Hawk?
1
kitkatkorgi Apr 3, 2026 +1
Hope they respect those stupid rules of engagement
1
OneSignal6465 Apr 3, 2026 +1
When I was stationed in the Sinai in the ‘80’s, and American water truck smashed into a civilian taxi. It had 12 Bedouins in it, and 7 were killed. We were confined to base for a couple of weeks, but didn’t discover why until I spoke to my wife via our “HF Communications radio”. (Back then, the only telephone communications home were done via an HF radio and ham operators back home voluntarily providing phone patches.) She immediately asked me if I was Ok. (From me: “Ok? Ok from what?”) She described what happened from the news at home before we knew what had happened. They told us it was a “upgraded security profile.”
1
aflyingmonkey2 Apr 3, 2026 +1
In case the missing one would become a pow,I hope Americans would burn streets to protest it. Otherwise,I lost hope in that nation entirely
1
Sea_Director_4439 6 days ago +1
So they still have one hostage, right?
1
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