Several online videos have surface of U.S. F-15 pilots ejecting out of aircraft that were seemingly hit during combat operations. According to most accounts the incidents took place over the skies of Kuwait and there are indications these were ‘friendly fire’ mistakes.
With all of the inbound drone, UAV, missile and ballistic missile activity it would not be a surprise to hear of Kuwaiti air defense forces accidentally targeting coalition or U.S. fighter jets that would be traversing the region.
All of the pilots are reported to be safe and with the assistance of the Kuwaiti government returning to their U.S. military bases. Given the “fog of war” it is best to wait until details are released from the Pentagon.
UPDATE: Immediately after writing, this update appears from CENTCOM:
TAMPA, Fla. – At 11:03 p.m. ET, March 1, three U.S. F-15E Strike Eagles flying in support of Operation Epic Fury went down over Kuwait due to an apparent friendly fire incident.
During active combat—that included attacks from Iranian aircraft, ballistic missiles, and drones — the U.S. Air Force fighter jets were mistakenly shot down by Kuwaiti air defenses.
All six aircrew ejected safely, have been safely recovered, and are in stable condition. Kuwait has acknowledged this incident, and we are grateful for the efforts of the Kuwaiti defense forces and their support in this ongoing operation.
The cause of the incident is under investigation. Additional information will be released as it becomes available. (SOURCE)
Original:
From the AP: “Several U.S. warplanes crashed Monday in Kuwait, the country’s Defense Ministry said, with all the pilots safely bailing out.
The ministry did not elaborate on what caused the crashes but it came during an intense period of Iranian fire targeting the country.
The Kuwaiti Defense Ministry said the pilots had been taken to a hospital for checkups and their condition was stable. The U.S. military’s Central Command did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (source)
Statement from the Kuwait Ministry of Defense:
“The spokesperson for the Ministry of Defense stated that several U.S. military aircraft crashed this morning, confirming the complete safety of their crews.
He explained that the relevant authorities immediately initiated search and rescue procedures, whereby the crews were evacuated and transferred to the hospital to check on their health status and provide the necessary medical care, noting that their condition is stable.
The official spokesperson added that direct coordination was conducted with the friendly U.S. forces regarding the circumstances of the incident, and joint technical measures were taken.
He affirmed that the concerned authorities are following up on the investigations to determine the causes of the incident, calling for information to be obtained from its official sources.” (more)
Many of us want information so we can evaluate things. However, in the fog of war it is best to be prudent and await official information to understand the full context of what might have happened.
🚨GREAT NEWS: The U.S. F-15 pilot who went down over Kuwait in a friendly fire incident is ALIVE.
He managed to eject and is currently being looked after by a group of Kuwaitis. Truly a miracle. pic.twitter.com/swx6TMdmi1
— Ryan Fournier (@RyanAFournier) March 2, 2026
Another angle of this morning’s crash of an apparent shot down F-15 by “friendly fire” over Kuwait. pic.twitter.com/HCTXwW9vlq
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) March 2, 2026
That would seem to corroborate the friendly fire statement.
Thanks be to God that our warriors were all able to eject in time. Let there be more sunlight.
War is a dangerous business, but I know the neo confederates and their useful idiots like Massie and Paul will make plenty out of this.
Agreed. As much care and effort taken to eliminate friendly fire, it does happen.
Are you talking about the physical weapons or Assie and Paul regarding “friendly fire”?
well, you could always, you know… do less war.
i’ll go ahead and add this to the tab as my social security fades away. but remind me again how this IS america first… lol
Ask Lyndon Johnson why your SSA check is fading. He stole the funds to create the “Great Society”. Get it????
Then the democrats stole some more to fund their crappy BarryCare they insisted would cost less and shouted you down if you dared disagree.
“You lie !!!”
(not you, Branding)
By your “less war” rhetoric, you’re okay with Iran possessing nuclear weapons… smh. You have no clue if this is America first… just a huge assumption based on what? Fear? Selfishness? And, regardless of “less war”, friendly fire, unfortunately, is a reality of war.
Bully has a known fatal case of TDS!
Well, we could always think that there are reasons and that President Trump is on our side.
👇
“Venezuela supplies maybe 3-4% of China’s imported oil.”
“But Iran was somewhere between 15-23%.”
Gordon Chang told me that President Trump is “going after the Chinese” with his war in Iran.
“He is doing it indirectly.”
“He’s cutting off their sources of oil.”
“President Trump may allow the Venezuelans to sell oil to China, but not at the heavily discounted rates that China was benefiting from.”
“And Chinese factories are now dependent on cheap oil.”
“Well, they’re not getting it anymore.”
“If they get their oil, they’re gonna have to pay market prices.”
Video here: https://nitter.poast.org/JanJekielek/status/2028269211487715746#m
0
Somewhat reminiscent of the oil sanctions on Japan in 1941. Hopefully these actions won’t push China into a similar decision.
It’s a lovely but foolhardy outlook.
Drone technology has changed the 3d battlefield.
That this kind of event took place isn’t a surprise but I am exceedingly grateful to Almighty God that our warriors survived relatively unscathed.
Amen.
Thank You, God, for sparing the lives of these brave warriors. May Your mighty hand carry our pilots through these battles safely. May this battle for all the people in Iran finally free them from tyrannical rule, and may our troops soon return home to their loving families.
Amen.
In Jesus name Amen
LMT up 16.74 in pre market trading with the rest of the DOW futures down 532 per fox business.
I checked a few more MIC corporations. Happy Daze are here again for the war machine business! Unexpected surprise? Most up 3 to 5% this morning.
This is a total fail. If we are going to equip our allies with air defense technologies, we should make sure they are trained well enough not to shoot down our front line air superiority platforms. These appear to be the E-model so that really sucks.
Not sure we can replace those air frames and might have to settle for more second rate F 35s
I believe the F-15EX is currently being manufactured. That is the F-15E replacement. Same airframe with more advanced avionics.
Thank you Virginian. I’m not aware of that timeframe, but good to know we can still produce airframes (unlike F-22…thank you Obama, sarc).
Yea, we need all those aircraft for our own defense, not just stop some terrorist regime that is hell bent to annihilate us.
And you don’t think that the ‘Death to America’ Iranians were not hell bent on annihilating us? SMH
The “Death to America” Iranians is who I am referring to.
SMH and then beat it against the wall.
Do you drive nails with your forehead?
Sarcasm is my native toungue but for the non native speakers a /s will prevent ruckuses within the tree
We might need to start using only F-35 so we can hide from the radar of our enemies *and* our allies.
Lol it’s junk. Start producing 22s again and sell to no one.
what is the average IQ in Kuwait?
The USS Gettysburg shot down one of our F/A-18s in the Red Sea, so blue-on-blue is not something unique.
Happens when we send diversity and inclusion-selected and undertrained (and undermotivated) persons into combat where only warriors belong. They endanger the highly motivated and well-trained warriors.
Hegseth is trying to fox that.
Prayers up for our beloved warriors. May God keep them safe.
Expensive mistakes. Thank God everyone appears to have survived.
I guess we either didn’t share the IFF Codes with Kuwaitis or someone didn’t verify them. They are usually changed daily. Any system, even if made by China or Russia, possesses IFF capability, but you gotta load the codes and verify the transponders every sortie. We take it deathly serious for obvious reasons so it will be interesting to see where the mistake happened.
I was thinking panic city, benefit of doubt, but hey at least they are good shots we trained them well
Yes, it will. This is no time for “mistakes.”
Their inability to think is carried in their language.
Thank God they all survived. I imagine it’s chaos over there right now with Iran’s retard army firing in all directions. The silver lining is, with every missile fired, the Iranians give away their position so they can be destroyed. I guess it’s cheaper and faster to send in fighter jets to destroy those targets rather than missiles.
If it’s true that Kuwaiti air defenses shot down our aircraft, then it’s not just the fog of war. It’s a failure to properly coordinate Arab allied air defenses within the overall CENTCOM construct.
Especially since Iran doesn’t have an air force to speak of.
Best you could come up with to blame Trump and the US? Sometimes “Stuff” happens. But you wouldn’t know you never been there.
The last thing those who “Rescued” the pilots should have done is video them.
This is no different then what Iran did when they put our soldiers on their knees as trophies.
The rescued pilot DIDN’T VIDEO HIMSELF!!!
Watch it until you grasp WHO TOOK THE VIDEO! Then stop spreading crap.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Some folks have just got to find something to complain about.
well his family was happy to see that video I am guessing
Casualties from “friendly fire” have been a part of every war the United States has ever fought. Probably every war in human history.
It’s tragic and those people responsible must be held accountable. What is worse, however, is the way in which many UniParty rats will use an incident like this to score cheap political points.
This military operation is a noble mission to rid the world of an evil terrorist organization that has killed and maimed people all over the world. Our brave warriors are fighting a righteous war against evil. They need our prayers and our support. So does their Commander In Chief.
Thanks to Almighty God, the pilots survived. May God continue to bless and protect our brave warriors.
All true.
I’m sick to death of hearing the never ending complaints from the bleachers.
The whiners and cryers, the bitchers and moaners, and all of the various cowardly and corrupt ankle biters are a plague upon our culture.
I am sick of them as well.
The chihuahua ankle biters are in the tree. 🌲
Me too!! Whiners living in an unrealistic world of pretending.
They alway show up on que from their handlers…
cue
queue is a line Brits stand in
French too, probably
Not only has friendly fire been a part of every war the United States has ever fought, but military members put themselves in harms way even when there is no “war.”
Captain Nathaneal Doring, USMC, was assigned to Marine Light/Attack Helicopter Squadron-169, Marine Aircraft Group-39, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, California, when he died following a non-hostile helicopter accident near Al Taqaddum, Iraq, on May 27, 2006. It has been almost 20 years now. . .
Nathaneal was the pilot of that helicopter, and when it stopped working and went down, it went down into one of the very few lakes in Iraq.
Nathaneal, my dear friend’s son and a man who grew-up in the land of 10,000 lakes, died from drowning, as did the co-pilot.
I pray for all our military members, as I know you do, that they make it home at the end of every day.
God bless you Raven.
I think I can speak to this. My dad, RIP, was the senior master sergeant at USAADASCH providing training on the Patriot missile system and at one point he was training our Arab allies, including Kuwaitis. This was decades ago, when it was still pretty new, but he said the Kuwaitis were really bad about not showing up, not studying, not taking it seriously. He liked them personally, but as a military he said they had zero discipline. I think it’s fair to assume that not much has changed and their attitudes towards discipline and training are still substandard.
Yes, there is no doubt that the Kuwaitis had our IFF (Identification; Friend or Foe) codes…
I remember being the only person sitting at a six person table in the dining hall with an Iranian pilot we were training at Sheppard AFB, TX. Everyone else was making a point not to sit at his table and there were no seats left.
I can share a similar story about my father who managed construction of a military/commercial airbase in the Middle East, and transitioned operations. He liked everyone and made many friends over those 7 years but, like your dad, he saw no drive, no vison or strategic commitment. The transition did not go well.
“So long as the Arabs fight tribe against tribe, so long will they be a little people, a silly people… greedy, barbarous and cruel as you are”
Lawrence risked his life to unite them – globalist foreign policy leverages division.
Roger that; and your Dad was 100% correct re: Kuwaiti capabilities, IMO …
I trained some of their pilots prior to Gulf War 1 and they were thoroughly UN-impressive and that wasn’t gonna’ change anytime soon, not then and quite possibly those slacker attitudes continue today …
RIP to your Dad.
My experience in flight school was similar with the Saudis.
When “they” were over here for training — specifically in Texas — if memory serves, they spent more time “studying” in the local saloons and strip clubs …
And usually equipped w/ a BIG roll of greenbacks (THANKS, OIL SHEIK DAD !!) and a BIG MOUTH to go along w/ the cash …
“They” used to train at Dobbins AF Base in Ga. One night in 1964 one that was liquored up tried to break into my house that was very close to the base. Little Bas**** almost took my door down before he gave up. He was wise. I was waiting on the other side to send him to allah…
Excellent news that all crew members survived. As for training, how much does it matter, once the missile is fired, the amount of training the shooter had. I would suspect that once fired, it’s all a battle between the missile’s designers, the aircraft’s designers, and the skill set and training of the targeted aircraft’s crew.
Good shooting, wrong target!
This will happen. More American servicemen will be killed. This is War. But I daresay that far fewer servicemen will lose their lives during this engagement than the Iranian regime murdered during the past 47 years.
Also, as you say, “The Fog of War.” Reliable information will come out – it may or may not remain classified – but do not expect to get it today.
“The Fog of War” includes the oddity of a video of a mostly intact F15 airframe in an apparent flat spin, one would expect more frame damage after being hit by a missile of sorts, state of flight, notwithstanding. A Jihadi in the fuel pits as at impact there is no immediate fireball or characteristic black smoke? Time will tell.
This is, essentially, why DoD wants AI to be able to make independent (no human in the loop) decisions on weapons release.
It’s too complicated for the humans.
Yeah…but humans create the AI?
The world now seems to view AI as some mysterious and miraculous technology. It is a set of rules developed by humans, running against massive data sets, created from human sources.
It’s “been around a long long time”. All that has changed is the sheer scale and sophistication of the computing systems used to run them. It soon will consume more energy than the civilizations which BigTech Oligarchs profess to be “saving”.
I see it differently. It is a pre-trained response matrix of very finite width.
Given a stimulus prompt, it outputs a response. Like a parrot talking.
OK, I gave them too much credit 😉
I asked ChatGPT5-mini “How many Watt-hours” did you use responding to this prompt?”
It responded 2.2mWh.
A CR2032 watch battery holds about 235mWh, roughly 100 responses.
Humans also get tired, sleepy, maybe hung-over, scared, under or over-medicated, or chewed out!
……..as could the surgeons who just put my smashed leg back together. I’d still, without a moment’s hesitation, take them over a surgical robot hooked up to Grok!
True, which is why I don’t think AI is the utopia the tech industry thinks it is.
At the end of the day, each AI tool is the product of the people that wrote the code. With all their biases and issues.
But I understand DoD’s argument about speed and complexity.
It would not have happened if they were Raptors. Even Eagle drivers can’t see Raptors, let alone Kuwaiti air defense.
Except that isn’t what the DoW wants.
They want to NOT have some woke dei tech antifa-goon weenie in san francisco being the arbiter of definitions constituting who or what is valid as a military target, who is a citizen, who is a nazi, who is a fascist, etc.
We already saw where that leads.
No, they want the AI woke robot making independent decisions without humans in the loop…
“It’s too complicated for the humans.”
Like driving a car is too complicated for humans? Think about it – one of the chasms to be crossed with autonomous (driverless) vehicle systems is the inherent problem of split-second decisions in life-or-death accident avoidance scenarios. It is not a complicated set of rules for a human to write – it’s a set of rules no human wants to cast into place.
When war becomes too complicated for humans, whose purpose then, does war serve?
–“When war becomes too complicated for humans, whose purpose then, does war serve?”–
Wise words to ponder!
The same “whose” it has always served: the rich and the powerful. Nothing about AI will change that.
“Release the anti-aircraft missiles, Grok”
More accurately, “Sir, Grok launched the anti aircraft missiles. It will let you know how it goes, and launch more missiles as needed.”
Its too complicated for SOME humans.
“(no human in the loop) decisions” ???
Makes me wonder why the AI providers keep choosing failure prone humans to program their AI computers…
Because it is a very useful parlor trick that presents the illusion of intelligence.
You’re right. We need to let AI program itself, and we definitely need to get humans out of the decision loop for all military decisions.
Good news; Kuwaiti air defenses are active and lethal
Bad news, K shot down the wrong airplanes
Im reading the Pentagon is freaking out/having anxiety over the 4 week timeline by POTUS.
It feels like the Spooks are going to undermine this operation.
Based on the 19 years we spent in a different sandbox, Im actually concerned as well.
Iran is a big place with 90M people and a relatively solid military. If we are in the egg breaking business again, we will undoubtedly break a few of our own eggs, and the American public long ago lost the will to fight a real war.
Be careful about believing everything you read. The UniParty, the Deep State, and the Corrupt Corporate Media are joining forces to “flood the zone” with lies and propaganda. Fake News, in other words.
We must be wiser and more discerning than ever as we seek sources of truth in these wicked times.
Not sure how we would know if “the Pentagon” (whatever that is) is “freaking out/having anxiety”. But I can see that today, with so much near real-time data flowing back to the rear, that the Joint Staff J-3 and J-5 have their hands full trying to manage the data. In particular if the flags are demanding more, more, more. I would think that after so many years of war that the Joint Staff and their CENTCOM counterparts have their relationship worked out.
Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe Pat Tillman was a victim of friendly fire back in 2004.
What was different about that incident was how much the rats within the military/political establishment lied about Tillman’s death. Cover up mode was instantly activated. It took a long time for the truth to come out.
Thanks to Divine Providence, we now have a President who is a truth teller. Our God is a loving and merciful God who is generous with His blessings!
My cousin was a victim of friendly fire (according to the military) when the first wave went into Iraq twenty years ago.
Sadly yes,Pat Tillman was. And its it debatable if it was unintended IMO.
Kuwait’s got the cash. Send ’em a bill.
Another skiing accident?
shoot to kill!
Our Marines did.
Good recovery, dangerous jobs, blame is not very valuable and this engagement will have some benefits…bill
With all the air traffic, coordination is important. Sadly, we lost brave souls. Deepest condolences to these families.
Forgive Kuwait these three. Any others on their part, then I not forgive.
The miracle that the pilot ejected safely kinda overlooks the tiny error – really a negligible mistake – of Kuwait shooting down the fighter in the first place.
With friends like this, who needs enemies?
I wouldn’t pass it off as a “negligible mistake”. Blue-on-blue is always a problem. I can see that if your country is under direct attack you tend to be amped-up and afraid of letting through the attack that kills your countrymen.
That said hopefully our allies are positioned alongside the CENTCOM forward Air Component Commander for coordination. But a question I have is if the CENTCOM base at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar is operating at 100%. This is partly why the USN has always been skeptical about having the entire air war scripted out at higher command. I don’t know current doctrine if an E-3 AWACS is supposed to be managing things?
Though the USN isn’t off the hook either. USS Gettysburg downed one of our F/A-18 aircraft in the Red Sea. Apparently the aircraft was returning from a strike mission over Yemen and was ordered to join the CAP aircraft overhead, but apparently the ship wasn’t aware of that order. Then of course also USS Vincennes shoot-down of the comair airbus that it mistakenly took for an Iranian F-14.
Beards and tactical pilots/airmen……
used to not mix…..because of O2 mask requirements……
Anyone got any current info…..????
Not current info, only my opinion:
The bearded pilot videoed in the back of the Kuwaiti van, including his equipment, doesn’t look like a US Air Force pilot to me…
Yeah……looked like cos player…..imho.
Remember Hegseth’s comment early on during the command brief when he said, “No more ‘beardos’ in the military” unless your SpecOps.
🙏🏻🙏🏻
There’s no such thing as “FRIENDLY FIRE” … especially if it’s incoming and coming YOUR way …
FWIW, back before the first Middle East “drive-by shooting”, a.k.a. Gulf War 1 as it’s known in some US military circles, I trained some Kuwaiti pilots in one of the aircraft types we were providing them at the time … one gent was even a member of the Royal Family.
My conclusion: they were uniformly below average pilots in many (most?) respects and that wasn’t gonna’ change anytime soon …
So as to their current “air defense” capabilities and competence … ???
Was this reported “friendly” shoot-down of 3 of our front line “multi strike fighters” (we used to call the breed ‘fighter-bombers’) done by local, indigenous Kuwaiti military personnel (?) … US military personnel (?) … US contractors (?) … or someone else ???
Time will tell — I guess — and while such incidents do happen in hot, shooting “furball” scenarios — what with missiles, guns, warplanes, drones, and who knows what else “flying” across the battle-space — ‘cept for those 3 F-15E’s …
But this situation is absolutely UNSAT and needs to be investigated and corrected as much as possible and ASAP. It’s just that “we” — the public and the rest of the world do NOT NEED to know what happened “at this time”. The answers will come — but get the job done NOW w/out all the “public briefings” for those w/out a “need to know” …
Just one ol’ man’s opinion …
Sounds more like a lot of DEI hire’s on the part of Kuwaitis…These aren’t Americans shooting down Americans.
Kuwait after desert storm, ‘shoot first ask question later’ and my favorite ‘itchy trigger fingers.’
Now that all the Gulf countries are involved better communications will be needed, they are all very nervous.
The little nation we went to war against Iraq to protect is shooting our planes down and saying sorry afterwards. Might be a good time to stage some ground troops into Kuwait and maintain control of Kuwait until this Iranian business is over.
Friendly fire isn’t
One rescued pilot is female.
Seems the jet had a flame out? I saw another jet with a small tail fire but also falling in a similar manner.
Also a report that the Kumait civilians were less than pleasant to the pilots.
Anyone have info???
Video of one of the planes being hit. Looks like they took an IR seeking missile up their tailpipe.
Regardless of it being ‘accidental’, what struck me was that the plane was flying straight and level, making zero effort to evade. There are zero conditions where a competent pilot should be doing that in such a situation unless they had shut off their defensive suite AND weren’t paying attention to their radar…
Our warriors are safe. Nuff said!
Correct me if I am wrong but this represents the first time an Eagle has been shot down in combat.