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2026-04-05 Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Ex-CIA Analyst: Trump's Claim About Obliterated Iranian Air Defenses Was Premature

[ZERO] During his Wednesday night speech, Donald Trump made the following claim about Iran’s air defenses: "They have no anti-aircraft equipment, their radar’s 100% annihilated, we are unstoppable as a military force."

The White House followed this Friday, with a statement from a spokesperson, Anna Kelley, who further emphasized, "Here are the facts: Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks are down 90 percent, their navy is wiped out, two-thirds of their production facilities are damaged or destroyed, and the United States and Israel have overwhelming air dominance over Iran," she said.

It appears that President Trump was a bit premature. The US Air Force had a difficult day on Friday:

F-15E (48th Fighter Wing) — Shot down in southwestern Iran. Pilot rescued; WSO still missing.

A-10C Thunderbolt II — Shot down and crashed into the Persian Gulf. Pilot reportedly recovered.

2X HH-60G Pave Hawk — Hit during CSAR mission, one crash-landed across the border in Iraq. All crew reportedly rescued.

KC-135R Stratotanker — Emergency squawk 7700 around 10:00 UTC near Tel Aviv.

F-16CJ "Wild Weasel" (F-16C Block 50/52, SEAD configuration) — Emergency squawk 7700 over Saudi Arabia near the Iraqi border around 15:00 UTC; later disappeared from FlightRadar.

KC-135R Stratotanker — Emergency squawk 7700 around 19:00 UTC near Tel Aviv.

It appears that Iran has no centralized air defense C2 or any kind of joint engagement zone (JEZ) anymore.

However, as evidenced by the incidents above, Iran appears to be relying on Vietnam-style guerrilla tactics of shoot-and-scoot air defense with their passive and highly tactical indigenous system... The IR-SA-7’s (pronounced "Ur-sah-seven"). # id) ?>

Posted by Besoeker 2026-04-05 01:23|| E-Mail|| Front Page|| [1802 views ] Top
File under: Govt of Iran

1 If no one else is airborne, then target selection is fairly simple and straight forward. How about we just STFU until the shoot'n is done ?

Posted by Besoeker 2026-04-05 01:30|| 2026-04-05 01:30|| Front Page Top

2 I mean, Trump did say he'd have the RUS-UKR war over in a day.

Posted by DooDahMan 2026-04-05 01:34|| 2026-04-05 01:34|| Front Page Top

3 Who gives AF, Russia and Ukraine can keep killing each other wholesale for all I care.

Posted by chris 2026-04-05 04:26|| 2026-04-05 04:26|| Front Page Top

4 MANPADs will still be there. There is also the tactic of blind volley fire into a airspace/box just hoping to hit something. If you have a high value target, you concentrate assets and just fill the sky with what you have. Nothing more sophisticated than old WW2 anti-aircraft guns tactics.

Posted by Procopius2k 2026-04-05 06:36|| 2026-04-05 06:36|| Front Page Top

5 ^^^ exactly, shit happens. To all the arm chair warriors go play call of war and stfu

Posted by chris 2026-04-05 06:48|| 2026-04-05 06:48|| Front Page Top

6 One guy with a rifle is an air defense system. He just has to get very, very lucky.

Posted by Matt 2026-04-05 08:32|| 2026-04-05 08:32|| Front Page Top

7 Doctrine for small arms AD is as stated fill a airspace/box with everything and hope you hit something. Though outside machineguns, your range is rather limited.

Posted by Procopius2k 2026-04-05 08:40|| 2026-04-05 08:40|| Front Page Top

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