Three US F-15s downed by Kuwaiti jet in 'friendly-fire' incident, claims report

According to the US military, three American fighter jets — all F-15E Strike Eagles — were accidentally shot down-Representative photo

• Three US F-15 jets shot down by Kuwaiti friendly fire over Kuwait
• All crew members ejected safely and are in stable condition
• US embassies in Gulf closed, citizens urged to leave region

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A Kuwaiti jet fighter was the cause of the accidental shootdown of three American F-15s on Monday, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

The report, which was based on at least three US official sources, stated that the pilot of the F/A-18 Hornet mistakenly launched three missiles towards the three US jets, which went down.

All three pilots and other crew members ejected safely.

The incident marked the first loss of an American aircraft since Operation Epic Fury began on February 28 with a sweeping wave of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran. Tehran has since retaliated with missile and drone attacks targeting Kuwait and other Gulf countries, following the assassination of its Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in the joint strikes.

According to the US military, three American fighter jets — all F-15E Strike Eagles — were accidentally shot down over Kuwait on Monday by friendly Kuwaiti fire, not by Iranian forces.

The downing of the F-15Es marks the second confirmed instance in the past 15 months of US fighter aircraft being lost to friendly fire in the Middle East.

Iran, however, claimed responsibility for shooting down the jets, as hostilities with US-backed Israel intensified sharply.

The WSJ report stated that the “blue-on-blue” incident occurred amid a complex aerial engagement in which multiple Iranian drones were breaching Kuwaiti airspace. One of the drones reportedly struck a military base, resulting in the deaths of six American personnel.

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed that three American F-15 fighter jets crashed over Kuwait in what it described as a “friendly fire” incident.

“Three US F-15E Strike Eagles flying in support of Operation Epic Fury went down over Kuwait due to an apparent friendly fire incident,” CENTCOM said in a statement. The command added that during “active combat operations,” the aircraft were mistakenly engaged by Kuwaiti air defence systems.

CENTCOM further stated that all six crew members are currently in stable condition.

Videos circulating on social media showed the pilot of one of the American fighter jets ejecting moments before the aircraft went down. Separate footage also purportedly showed the pilot after landing.

An image of the pilot was later shared by Iranian state media on Telegram. In a post on the messaging platform, Press TV captioned the image: “American pilot after his fighter jet crashed in Kuwait.”

A day before the shootdown of the F-15s, six US Army soldiers were killed by an Iranian drone attack on a US tactical operations centre at the Shuaiba port in Kuwait.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine acknowledged the “loss” of the three F-15E Strike Eagles during a Pentagon press briefing on March 2, stating that the US had determined the incident “was not the result of hostile enemy fire.”

The US State Department has closed its embassies in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Lebanon following drone attacks targeting diplomatic facilities. It has also issued an unprecedented advisory urging all American citizens to leave the region, including Israel.