Aircraft deployed by the United States during a rescue mission in Iran, later destroyed, reportedly cost over $100 million each, according to Wall Street Journal, citing US military sources.
MC-130J aircraft were used in the operation to recover crew members of a downed F-15E fighter jet, including a second crewman who was successfully rescued. The MC-130J, operated by the US Air Force Special Operations Command, is built for inserting and extracting troops in hostile environments and features midair refueling capabilities and advanced defensive systems to counter threats such as heat-seeking missiles.
An American official confirmed that two MC-130J aircraft were destroyed during the mission, though details on how they were lost were not provided.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps stated that its forces had destroyed “enemy flying objects” that entered central Iran during what it described as a failed US rescue attempt. Images shared by Iranian officials reportedly showed wreckage from at least one aircraft.
Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad-Bagher Qalibaf posted on social media, saying, “If the United States gets three more victories like this, it will be utterly ruined.” Iranian authorities also claimed that additional aircraft, including helicopters and a transport plane, were destroyed, though these claims have not been independently verified.
The US special operations forces successfully rescued the second crew member on Saturday after a tense 36-hour operation in southwest Iran, amid attempts by both US forces and the IRGC to locate the missing American officer.
