U.S. Air Force F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter jet sustained damage from suspected Iranian fire and was forced to make an emergency landing at a US air base in the Middle East.
According to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) spokesperson Capt. Tim Hawkins “A U.S. F-35 Lightning II fighter jet was forced to make an emergency landing at a U.S. air base in the Middle East while it was “flying a combat mission over Iran”.
“The aircraft landed safely, and the pilot is in stable condition,” Hawkins stated. “This incident is under investigation.”
The sources indicated the jet was hit by what is believed to be Iranian fire, though the precise nature of the weapon used, whether ground-based air defense, a surface-to-air missile, or another system, has not been publicly disclosed. No further details about the extent of the damage were immediately available.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps issued a statement claiming direct responsibility for the strike, providing a sharply different account of the incident’s severity. According to Ali Cabuk, a Tehran-based regional correspondent for NTV, Türkiye’s first 24-hour news channel, the IRGC said the US F-35 was hit at approximately 2:50 a.m. local time in central Iranian airspace by what it described as an advanced, next-generation air defense system operated by the Revolutionary Guards’ Aerospace Force.
The IRGC statement said the aircraft sustained heavy damage, and asserted that the jet’s fate remains unclear and is still being assessed, with the probability of a crash being high. US Central Command has not confirmed those claims, stating only that the aircraft landed safely and the pilot was in stable condition.
The IRGC’s version of events contrasts markedly with the US account. Washington has acknowledged the emergency landing but characterized it as a successful recovery of both the aircraft and the pilot. The gap between the two narratives could not be independently reconciled.
If confirmed, this incident would represent the first instance of a U.S. crewed aircraft hit by Iranian fire since the start of Operation Epic Fury on Feb. 28, 2026. The aircraft losses so far were three F-15E Strike Eagles lost to friendly fire in Kuwait and a KC-135 lost over Iraq after a yet unclear mid-air incident.
Moreover, this incident possibly represents the first time an F-35 Lightning II has been hit by enemy fire. The circumstances are unclear at the moment and, without further details, any discussion about the causes would be pure speculation.
