Several photos appear to show the remains of the turboprop planes and helicopters that US special forces used while rescuing an F-15E weapons system officer stranded in Iran.
The images, which emerged on social media on Sunday evening and were spread by Iranian state media, appear consistent with multiple Western reports that US forces ditched and destroyed the aircraft near the end of the mission.
Some of the photos appear to show wrecked propellers and the nose of at least one turboprop plane.
SOCIAL MEDIA/via REUTERS
It’s unclear exactly when the photos were taken.
SOCIAL MEDIA/Social Media via REUTERS
Another image appears to show a destroyed helicopter main rotor that would have been fitted with six blades.
SOCIAL MEDIA/via REUTERS
William Goodhind, an independent open-source investigation researcher, told Reuters that the images appeared to show distinct features of a destroyed Lockheed Martin MC-130.
The medium-sized transport plane, which features four propellers, is based on the C-130 Hercules and used by US special forces, often for exfiltration and infiltration.
SOCIAL MEDIA/Social Media via REUTERS
Multiple American media reports have said that during the rescue mission, US commandos retrieved the F-15E airman but were unable to take off with two MC-130s from a remote airstrip established in the nearby desert.
To keep the aircraft from falling into Iranian hands, US forces destroyed the planes, instead calling in replacement aircraft to exfiltrate the ground teams, officials told US media.
SOCIAL MEDIA/Social Media via REUTERS
The New York Times also reported that four Boeing MH-6 Little Birds — helicopters with six-bladed rotors used by US forces to fetch the stranded officer from their hiding position — were left behind and intentionally destroyed by American warplanes.
On Sunday evening, President Donald Trump announced that the airman had been rescued, calling the operation “one of the most daring” search-and-rescue missions in US military history.
The weapons system officer was one of two US Air Force service members who ejected from an F-15E Strike Eagle shot down on Friday in Iran, about two days before his rescue.
His crewmate, the F-15E’s pilot, was retrieved separately by US forces several hours after they ejected. Several reports indicated that two search-and-rescue helicopters were hit during the operation to exfiltrate them, but returned safely to base.
The loss of the F-15E marks the first time that a US aircraft was destroyed over Iran since the Pentagon and Israel began Operation Epic Fury on February 28.
Other American warplanes have been lost during the war, however, and several others have been severely damaged. On Friday, an A-10 Warthog crashed in friendly territory after being hit, with its pilot safely ejecting.
Three other F-15s were also destroyed last month over Kuwait, in what US Central Command said was likely a friendly-fire incident involving local air defenses. The six pilots and weapons systems officers ejected and survived.
On March 12, all six crew members of a KC-135 died after the refueling aircraft crashed in Iraq. The US says that at least 13 of its troops have been killed during this year’s combat operations with Iran, with roughly 350 service members also wounded.
Human rights organizations have published differing estimates for casualties in Iran, with rough death tolls last week ranging from 1,900 to 3,500 deaths.
