Three U.S. F-15E fighters have gone down over Kuwait in an “apparent friendly fire incident,” according to U.S. Central Command.
The incident took place at 11:30 Eastern Time on Sunday, a CENTCOM news release says.
“During active combat—that included attacks from Iranian aircraft, ballistic missiles, and drones — the U.S. Air Force fighter jets were mistakenly shot down by Kuwaiti air defenses,” the news release says.
All six of the aircrew safely ejected, have been recovered, and are in stable condition, the news release says.
No further information about how the F-15s crashed was immediately available.
The cause of the incident is under investigation. This is the latest suspected incident of friendly fire. On Dec. 22, 2024, the cruiser USS Gettysburg mistakenly fired at two F/A18F Super Hornets, one of which was destroyed. Both aviators onboard safely ejected and were recovered.
The news comes a day after CENTCOM announced that three U.S. service members had been killed and five seriously wounded during ongoing operations against Iran. Named Operation Epic Fury, the campaign began around 1:15 a.m., Eastern Time, on Saturday, and involved air strikes and launching one-way attack drones and missiles at targets inside Iran, according to CENTCOM, which has released videos showing U.S. Navy ships firing Tomahawk cruise missiles and High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, launching Army Tactical Missile System rockets, or ATACMS, which have a range of up to 186 miles.
This is a developing story.
