'No air defenses': Trump, Hegseth touted American dominance in Iran before jet was downed [View all]

Source: ABC News

As the U.S. waged war over the last five weeks, President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth have repeatedly said Iran's capabilities were decimated -- including its anti-aircraft defenses, which were taken out by American forces.

That assertion seems to have come into question Friday when, according to several U.S. officials, Iran appeared to down a U.S. fighter jet, an F-15E, over its territory.

One of the crew members was rescued, a U.S. official said. The status of the other crew member was not known and a search and rescue operation was under way according to officials.

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Another official said two Black Hawk helicopters involved in the search and rescue for the crew of the F-15E were also struck by incoming fire and an A-10 aircraft was hit in a separate incident and crashed in a neighboring allied country. The pilot was rescued in that case.

Read more: https://abcnews.com/Politics/air-defenses-trump-hegseth-touted-american-dominance-iran/story?id=131690203