The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed in an official statement that three F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jets of the U.S. Air Force were accidentally shot down over Kuwait this Monday (local time), victims of friendly fire from Kuwaiti air defense systems.
The incident occurred at 11:03 p.m. ET on March 1 while the aircraft were participating in the Operation "Epic Fury", the joint military offensive by the United States and Israel against Iran that began on Saturday, February 28.
The six crew members —two per aircraft— successfully ejected before the aircraft crashed. According to the CENTCOM statement, "the six crew members ejected safely, were recovered, and are in stable condition."
A verified video by Times of Israel about the downing shows a military aircraft falling from the sky and a crew member parachuting down in the Al Jahra area of Kuwait.
The F-15E were operating from the area of Ali Al Salem Air Base, which houses the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing of the USAF and is located about 37 kilometers from the Iraqi border. Witnesses reported smoke rising near the complex of the United States Embassy in the city of Kuwait, with fire trucks and ambulances in the area.
The identification error occurred in a context of high-intensity active combat. On the same day, Kuwaiti air defenses intercepted 97 ballistic missiles and 283 drones launched by Iran as part of the so-called "Operation True Promise 4", resulting in one death and more than 30 injuries in Kuwait.
In United Arab Emirates, defense forces intercepted 165 ballistic missiles and 541 drones, resulting in three deaths and 58 injuries. Loud explosions were heard in Dubai, Doha, and Kuwait, and the airspace of multiple countries was closed or severely restricted.
Iran responded to the "Epic Fury" Operation with multiple waves of missiles and drones targeting 27 U.S. military bases in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, and Iraq, as well as against targets in Israel.
The operation, which began on February 28, at 1:15 a.m., targeted over 1,000 targets in Iran within its first 24 hours, including IRGC facilities, air defense systems, missile and drone sites, and airfields. CENTCOM described it as an "overwhelming and relentless strike."
Until the date of the incident, three U.S. military personnel had died and five were injured during Operation "Epic Fury." President Donald Trump had warned in advance that there would likely be more casualties in the conflict.
The downing of the three F-15E aircraft represents one of the most significant material losses for the USAF in a single day in decades, although there were no fatalities among the crew members. CENTCOM expressed its gratitude for the efforts of the Kuwaiti defense forces despite the tragic error, and the exact causes of the identification failure remain under joint investigation.
This type of incident has historical precedents in the region. During the Operation Desert Storm in 1991, a USAF F-15C mistakenly shot down two Kuwaiti Mirage F1s on February 27 of that year, just hours before the ceasefire, due to failures in the friend-or-foe identification system and communication issues. That incident was also investigated and confirmed as friendly fire due to human and technical errors, highlighting the inherent risks of joint air operations in high-density combat environments.
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