[Regnum] The Iranian military claimed to have shot down three US Air Force aircraft and two helicopters, according to Iran's state broadcaster IRIB.
According to the Iranian command, the American planes and helicopters were destroyed using new air defense systems.
The command clarified that on the evening of April 3, Iranian air defenses intercepted an American A-10 attack aircraft near the Strait of Hormuz. The aircraft crashed into the waters of the Persian Gulf, the broadcaster reported on social media.
Additionally, an Iranian UAV shot down a US Air Force CH-47 Chinook heavy military transport helicopter over Kuwait. On the same day, the Iranians shot down an American F-15E Strike Eagle fighter-bomber.
Also on April 3, Iranian air defenses shot down a helicopter that was searching for the American pilot of the previously downed F-35 fighter jet.
On the morning of April 3, the Iranian military shot down a US Air Force F-35 over the central region of the republic. The pilot ejected, and both Iranian and US forces launched a search for him, using Black Hawk and Hercules 130 helicopters. That evening, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced that the US search operation had failed and that the pilot had been detained by the Iranian military.