Iran has placed a bounty on American pilots and launched a public manhunt across its southwestern provinces after shooting down a United States Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle on Friday, in what would mark the first confirmed loss of an American combat aircraft to enemy fire since the war began 35 days ago.
A local affiliate of Iran’s state television said a prize was on offer for anyone able to “capture the enemy pilot or pilots alive and hand them over to the police,” while the broadcast also included a written message urging viewers to shoot at any US aircraft seen flying overhead.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it shot down the aircraft over central Iran using its air defence systems on Friday morning. Iranian state media released photos and videos allegedly showing crash site debris, including aircraft parts and what appeared to be an ejection seat. A local television channel in Kohkilouyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province broadcast an announcement urging residents to cooperate in the search.
A US official confirmed the shootdown to Reuters after Axios first reported that a search was underway for two US service members aboard the jet. The US military and the White House had not issued a formal public statement at the time of reporting. The state-run Tasnim agency said the search for any missing crew had “so far been unsuccessful.”
The downed F-15E, based on the tail fin debris visible in images circulated by Iranian state broadcaster IRIB, appears to belong to the 494th Fighter Squadron normally based at Royal Air Force (RAF) Lakenheath in the United Kingdom.
Videos geolocated by CNN showed multiple low-flying military aircraft over Khuzestan Province in central Iran, including what appeared to be a C-130 Hercules and two Black Hawk helicopters, consistent with a search and rescue formation.
The incident comes despite repeated assertions by US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth that Washington held control over Iranian airspace. In a White House address earlier this week, President Donald Trump said the war was “nearing completion” and that US strikes had achieved most of their objectives.
In a Truth Social post on Friday, Trump vowed to target bridges and power plants in Iran next, warning that the military had not yet started “destroying what’s left in Iran.”
At least 13 US service members have died since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran, killing much of the country’s high-ranking government officials, including the supreme leader.
