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US military reveals footage from mission to rescue downed F-15E crew in Iran
Fox News • • nation
Key Points:
- The U.S. military released new footage showing a large combat search-and-rescue operation in April to recover two crew members of an F-15E Strike Eagle shot down in Iran.
- The pilot, Dude44 Alpha, was rescued after six hours, but the weapons systems officer, Dude44 Bravo, suffered serious injuries and was stranded for nearly two days before being reached by elite Air Force pararescue operators.
- The video depicts U.S. helicopters searching for Bravo, American bombers and drones striking nearby Iranian forces, and the dramatic moment when rescuers reached the injured airman on a mountain ridgeline.
- The rescue involved 92 U.S. service members on the ground—the first American boots in Iran since 1980—and thousands more supporting from the air; a clandestine unit later extracted the group after rescue aircraft became stuck in desert sand.
- Bravo was safely evacuated about 50 hours after the crash, with the operation concluding at sunrise on Easter Sunday.
