American planes have been flying missions at lower altitudes, which makes them more vulnerable to Iran's missiles, Taleblu said. It’s possible that Iran fired at the F-15 with a surface-to-air missile, but it's more likely that a portable, shoulder-fired missile was used, he said. Those are much harder to detect and reflect how Iran is “weak but still lethal.”
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2026/04/04/us-military-aircraft-hit-iran-war-are-first-shot-down-enemy-fire-over-20-years.html
But that doesn't explain the other plane which went down in the Persian Gulf. If it was shoulder powered, you would think it would be one plane and not two?
But the NY Times says:
A spokesman for a key unit of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Saturday that the country would unveil new air defense systems on the battlefield, according to a statement carried by the semi-official Fars news agency. The statement detailed targets that it said the country’s air defense network had struck on Friday but did not mention the U.S. F-15E fighter jet that Iran downed.
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I really don't know what to believe.
I know Russia has beens supplying Iran.
I was kinda surprised that a fighter was flying over Iran.
Apparently, planes are now flying missions due to the lowering supply of Tomahawk missiles.
We will see what happens next...
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