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An F-35 stealth fighter jet was forced to make an emergency landing at an air base after it was believed to have been struck in Iranian fire.
A US F-35 fighter jet made an emergency landing in West Asia amid the Iran war. (Reuters)
A US F-35 fighter jet made an emergency landing at an American air base in West Asia after it was struck by what is believed to be Iranian fire, according to several reports.
Captain Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson for US Central Command, said the fifth-generation stealth jet was “flying a combat mission over Iran” when it was forced to make an emergency landing. Hawkins said the aircraft landed safely and the incident is under investigation.
Two sources familiar with the matter told CNN that the aircraft was damaged by Iranian fire. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) later claimed to have damaged the F-35 fighter jet.
“The US military’s F-35 strategic fighter jet was hit and seriously damaged in the central Iranian sky at 2:50 a.m. today by the IRGC’s advanced modern aerospace defense system. The fate of this fighter jet is unknown and is under investigation, and there is a high probability that it crashed,” the IRGC said in a statement.
The incident would be the first time Iran has struck a US aircraft since the conflict began on February 28. The United States and Israel are flying F-25 jets in the region to attack Iran’s missile capabilities, which costs more than $100 million.
The US has lost other aircraft in the war thus far, though none known to have been hit by enemy fire. Three US F-15 fighter jets were mistakenly shot down by Kuwaiti air defences, and a KC-135 Stratotanker refuelling aircraft crashed in western Iraq, killing all crew members aboard.
The Iran war has sharply escalated with direct US and Israeli strikes on Iran and retaliatory missile attacks across Israel and the Gulf states. Iran struck gas refineries in Qatar and Saudi Arabia in response to Israeli attacks on its South Pars gas field, marking a significant escalation in the war.
As the war is nearing the end of its third week, senior US officials continue to claim widespread success in its campaign against Iran. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday morning that the US is “winning decisively” and that Iran’s air defences have been “flattened.”
March 20, 2026, 12:00 AM IST
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