Aerial footage of the site where two U.S. HC-130J Combat King II rescue aircraft and at least two helicopters were apparently destroyed by U.S. airstrikes.

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Firov@reddit

Iran really got some good bang for their buck by shooting down that F-15E. By doing that they also destroyed an A-10, multiple C-130's, and some little birds... Plus whatever damage was caused to other airframes over the course of the rescue mission.

What a stupid, pointless, and utterly wasteful war Trump and Netanyahu have gotten us into.

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agent_p_@reddit

I knew Iran was quite large, but seeing it having so little control over its territory is mind-boggling

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DisregardLogan@reddit

Why did we blow them up? Couldn’t get them out? Seems kind of insane

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Komrade-Seals@reddit

The planes were stuck, and the helicopters were smaller models transported in by the former, without the fuel capacity to make it out of Iran.

Generally, if equipment can’t be taken back, it’s common practice to destroy it to deny it to the enemy.

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ray68231@reddit

So that the enemy wont get their tech or do you think that the iran wont use this plane to their favour ?

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OkDifficulty7436@reddit

They got stuck in the sand

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AutoRot@reddit

Bro WHAT THE FUCK ARE WE DOING OVER THERE? what the fuck is this for?

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Ntinaras007@reddit

Israel.

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SessionGloomy@reddit

also to kill schoolgirls

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alwayslostin1989@reddit

This particular thing, saving an 2 Americans.

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Internal-Scientist87@reddit

How does a helicopter get stuck? I can understand the hc 130 but a helicopter? All of these airframes got stuck in the same area is a bit weird

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Preserved_Killick8@reddit

they used the c130 to transport the littlebird. littlebird doesn’t have the range to make it back to friendly territory

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Temporary_Buy9531@reddit

Consumable Little Bird is so insane lol. What a cool job.

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TonalParsnips@reddit

Illegally invading a sovereign nation and slaughtering civilians, so cool!

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Temporary_Buy9531@reddit

Cope

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Familiar_Fee_7891@reddit

Not coping well at all.

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GenericAccount13579@reddit

I doubt that, they’d have to remove and reinstall the blades which isn’t a quick process

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Preserved_Killick8@reddit

the blades fold

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GenericAccount13579@reddit

Pretty neat video of it on the Boeing site actually

https://www.boeing.com/defense/military-rotorcraft/ah-6-little-bird

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BigJellyfish1906@reddit

Whoever said it “got stuck” is lying. As if they intentionally landed and got surprised by the sand. That’s obviously bullshit for exactly this reason. Who could have POSSIBLY foreseen this 100,000 lb airplane getting stuck in terrain that nobody checked or prepared? Hmmmm?

The only possible reason they landed was because they were forced to, either by mechanical failure or suffering damage. My bet is the first one. The Iranians brought it down, but thankfully they had the contingency of abandoning it and getting the crew out via helo.

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Familiar_Fee_7891@reddit

How you packed so much stupid on one post is frankly, pretty impressive.

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BigJellyfish1906@reddit

That’s all you got? Actually defend this idea. Explain how this is a tactic, despite:

You don’t know you can actually land on that surface.
You don’t know you can take back off
You don’t have ANYWHERE near the resources to defend it if you’re found
If you’re found at all, you can’t withstand any attack at all.
A C-130 landing in a field is the most conspicuous thing imaginable for a stealthy mission like this.

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RestaurantFamous2399@reddit

You dont get that many aircraft stuck in the same place, all because of mechanical failures at the same time.

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Personal-Try328@reddit

You droolers really should just learn to be quiet. Always saying the most un(mis)informed shit with absolute confidence

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RestaurantFamous2399@reddit

I worked on them for 20 years, have a pretty good idea of what they do!

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BigJellyfish1906@reddit

It was one C-130 and the helicopter it was carrying.

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offcamberxj@reddit

It was a FARP on dirt. This was done in Afghanistan numerous times (source is relentless strike by Sean Naylor). C130s would land on the desert after sunset, carrying 2 AH-6 helicopters. The helos would fly hit and run missions in Afghanistan and then leave before sunrise. Those landing sites were checked and selected by AFSOC personnel ahead of time, they may not have had that luxury this time.

They were obviously NOT brought down, because they were very clearly parked next to each other.

Photo shows they hercs parked in Iran

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offcamberxj@reddit

After they were destroyed on the ground. Note the same terrain in the foreground and background

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Kilo259@reddit

So your missing the whole part where they had a temporary airfield established. Which they flew to. Which they flew out of. Its literally stated one of the 130s had a wheel go off said temporary airfield and got stuck in the sand. And instead of picking around the blew both 130s and the little bird and left in 3 different 130s. Not every thing is a conspiracy theory.

Furthermore having two c130s crash side by side with a little bird in front is literally impossible.

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BigJellyfish1906@reddit

So your missing the whole part where they had a temporary airfield established. Which they flew to.

Says who? Who even says this is a thing? Making a “temporary airfield” over the span of less than a day, DEEP in enemy territory? That’s the most asinine plan I’ve ever heard.

Its literally stated one of the 130s had a wheel go off said temporary airfield and got stuck in the sand

Says who?

Not every thing is a conspiracy theory.

A simple lie about their mistakes is not “conspiracy.” It’s just a lie.

Furthermore having two c130s crash side by side with a little bird in front is literally impossible.

Where are you getting this that theres a second C-130 down there? The little bird makes sense if the C-130 was carrying it when it was forced down.

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RestaurantFamous2399@reddit

Making airfield in the middle of nowhere to drop troops and equipment is literally part of what Air Forces do. They did these exact things in Iraq and Afghanistan when they kicked off, well behind enemy lines dropping off SF. Its how recon teams are dropped into regions with their equipment before the main army even starts an invasion.

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GhangusKittyLitter@reddit

A lot about this story isn’t adding up.

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Familiar_Fee_7891@reddit

It’s because you don’t understand how military operations by elite forces operate. If saving one life requires you to write off 17 aircraft you write off 17 aircraft.

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Sure_Elderberry1495@reddit

It's one of those cases where the environment is the real enemy, not the aircraft. same reason you see multiple vehicles get stuck in the exact same patch of bad terrain.

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Apprehensive-Tea6551@reddit

Seeing multiple airframes stuck in one spot makes it feel like someone seriously underestimated the environment.

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Meet-me-behind-bins@reddit

Probably not enough fuel to get back? Just blow it up instead.

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dbsqls@reddit

standard protocol to drop a JDAM or similar munitions on a downed plane. was SOP when I was in the industry and I doubt it's changed. no reason to leave anything for people to salvage/examine.

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Electrical_Group8697@reddit

Unless you are leaving Afghanistan? SOP is not really SOP if its case by case

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boobookittyfuwk@reddit

I was confused about the whole Afghan thing so I read up on it a couple years ago. Apparently the usa left that stuff behind so that the Afghan army could us it to fight off any threats and not get over run, then when it became obvious they wouldn't fight it was too late.

But yeah they should have gone in there and blown that stuff up after, but Pakistan is taking care of that right now.

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Afraid_Stuff_History@reddit

Oh, super interesting. Do you remember any of the sources you found helpful?

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Phospherus2@reddit

But the IRGC said they shot them down!

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Kilo259@reddit

They also said they blew uo the Ford like 12 times lolz

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Phospherus2@reddit

The comments on this are just insane. “C130’s don’t land in the desert” “IRGC shot these down”. Just stupid people and bots

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claws76@reddit

But they say these weren't downed. Just got stuck, unable to fly off, so haad to be blown. Not sure what exactly happened to require blowing up so much hardware like it is expendable.

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Green-Contract-3554@reddit

How tf does a helicopter gets stuck?

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SomeRandomSomeWhere@reddit

Didn't a chopper get destroyed by the seals during OBL operation? Chopper was unable to fly off.

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Kilo259@reddit

Yeah the high walls screwed up the lift and it went into the compound. The blew it, but the aft rotor didnt get blown.

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Phospherus2@reddit

The helicopters were in the back of the C130’s. When they landed they took them out and flew them to extract to pilot. He was ontop of a mountain. Little birds are small helicopters with not a lot of fuel. And this was in the middle of Iran. Then they flew them back to the forward airbase and loaded them back up.

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Just-Smart-Enough@reddit

Not enough fuel to make it to friendly territory.

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faustianredditor@reddit

The Little Bird here has nowhere near the range to exfil on its own. It can be (and likely was) flown in on a C-130. Can't imagine it can be refueled in the air either.

So, put it in the back of the C-130, or leave it there. If the C-130 has to stay there, both are now bricks.

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Fast-Satisfaction482@reddit

FOD during the landing? Hit during the firefight?

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MorastK@reddit

It may not seem like it should be, but all that equipment is expendable. Sucks that it all had to be blown up, but it will all be replaced eventually with new aircraft.

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dbsqls@reddit

the hardware is absolutely expendable if you can't get it back. classified systems aren't just found on F-35s.

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claws76@reddit

I mean, it isn't supposed to be treated as expendable. These aren't a one-time use equipment. So something might've happened to them to be treated as expendables.

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Armamore@reddit

Is getting stuck somewhere the enemy might capture them not enough of a reason? That's pretty standard SOP in the US military. Anytime sensitive or valuable equity is in immediate danger of being captured, destroy it instead. Sure they're expensive aircraft but they aren't irreplaceable.

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Silver_Emergency_922@reddit

This is very "reddit telephone game" where a guess turns into "fact" after being repeated enough times.

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mightymike24@reddit

They're MC- rather than HC-130J, no?

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JshWright@reddit

Those are basically the same thing, but if it was involved in a SAR mission it was almost certainly the HC-130.

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William_Shaftner@reddit

Ok my professional armchair research (AI) is saying HC were involved in the overall operation, but were used as command centers and refueling to support further away.

Because of the difficulty of even getting into Iran without detection, the MC-130s were used because their purpose is clandestine infiltration. Basically they have all the tech to fly into an area without being seen as easily, can fly low with better radar to not fly into stuff.

The HC then is more about rescue and less about infiltration. It’s “noisy” and more visible. It would seem in these circumstances that penetrating Iran’s airspace undetected would be more important.

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JshWright@reddit

The primary difference between the HC and the MC is the flavor of highly motivated guys with guns that ride in the back. Both are capable of insertion into hostile areas.

While it's certainly likely that other commands got involved as the mission evolved, rescuing a downed airman would primarily be the responsibility of USAF Pararescue, and PJs ride in HCs.

Just to be clear though, I'm not speaking from direct knowledge/experience. I am a software developer, but due to a quirk of how my career unfolded I have an unusual number of former JSOC folks in my contact list, and my info is based on some chats with them (so take that second hand info with a grain of salt)

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William_Shaftner@reddit

I’m confused by this too. Lots of places saying MC but isn’t the HC designed specifically for extraction and refueling?

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MyOtherAltIsRegret@reddit

The H has a few things the M doesn’t have, but are essentially interchangeable. I think one of the guard units has a few old MC130Hs that they use as HCs. Kinda weird they used a J, but this was a CSAR mission. HCs are made for that.

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MyOtherAltIsRegret@reddit

I’m starting to figure it out a bit and it’s wild. The H and the M are basically the same. The H probably has a few things the M actually doesn’t have.

So a USAF fixed wing rescue unit partnered with 160 and delta (with heavy 24 support.)

Fucking landed a HC130 in enemy territory, setup a FARP and sent little birds out to grab the dude.

Plane might have been damaged or just didn’t have room to take off. MH-47s remove all personnel and the aircraft that are left behind go boom.

There might be some units and aircraft in leaving out, this is the most secret squirrel mission I’ve ever seen and legitimately might be the greatest special ops mission of all time if it all turns out to be true.

Caveat. I’ve been out of the AF for a long time and would never have been on a mission like this. I’m speculating based of why I know. Nothing secret here. 🤐

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maverick4002@reddit

The US destroyed their own aircraft? Is that was this post is saying? Was it a mistake?

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Komrade-Seals@reddit

This was in Iran, part of the rescue mission. The 130’s (the big planes) were stuck in the ground, which was too soft to support them beyond the landing evidently. The helicopters were transported in by the planes, and wouldn’t have had the fuel to make it out of Iran. It’s pretty standard for militaries to destroy equipment otherwise guaranteed to be left behind in enemy territory.

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BigJellyfish1906@reddit

Why is everyone repeating this bullshit notion that they landed intentionally? They were obviously brought down. Thankfully there was a contingency to get the out via helo.

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NecessaryFragrant292@reddit

Look at the blades and the lack of Impact on the soil it was very clearly stationary

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BigJellyfish1906@reddit

Which is why I’m assuming it was forced to do an emergency landing, and then they abandoned it.

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SoulOfTheDragon@reddit

If they had to be left in hostile are for any reason you'd want them to be totally disabled in a way that no information/systems or spare parts can be gained.

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LordVixen@reddit

So at least 5 aircraft were destroyed in this rescue?

1x A-10 2x HC-130J 2x helicopters

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theperipherypeople@reddit

Before this thread gets locked, does anyone have any credible evidence that Delta was behind the blowing up of the aircraft? I keep seeing people say Delta, but haven't found evidence it was them specifically.

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PumpnDump0924@reddit

It was probably air strikes that destroyed the aircraft. It’s faster, safer, easier, and more effective.

I’m sure if there was anything sensitive in those aircraft the pilots and crewmen ripped it out or sanitized it before it was blown to high hell

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theperipherypeople@reddit

Yeah I think so too. Just have no idea why people are saying Delta did it. Were they there?

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PumpnDump0924@reddit

Hold your curiosity and just wait for the SECDEF to tell you in a conference. He loves bragging bout shit like this. Nobody knows the concrete details of the operation.

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Sidney_Godsby@reddit

Good luck parsing the useful info in between misrepresented bible verses lmao

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theperipherypeople@reddit

We'll need to wait until he's done furiously masturbating

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Afraid_Stuff_History@reddit

*drunkenly masturbating

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deleted_by_reddit@reddit

[removed]

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MessMaximum5493@reddit

There was a little bird destroyed there too, only special forces use that

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theperipherypeople@reddit

Oh yeah, that's where those rotar blades came from.

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CustomerOK9mm9mm@reddit

The crews carry thermite grenades for precisely this purpose. And CSAR team carries those same grenades. The Air Force would not order missile strikes as an alternative to incineration.

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theperipherypeople@reddit

Interesting

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Fun_Habit1846@reddit

Incidents involving engine malfunctions or emergency landings have been reported, but those are mechanical events investigated by authorities not intentional acts or proof of blame.

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Specialist-Ebb-2817@reddit

A lot of the chatter is just speculation and people connecting dots that aren’t there. Until a reputable source directly says so, it’s safer to treat it as unverified rumor rather than fact.

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FeeHot5876@reddit

Jack Murphy is pretty credibly, not a unrealistic to think it was both

https://x.com/jackmurphyrgr/status/2040631669850267662?s=46&t=vsyPkpkM6KuJGeyK9aLsEw

Delta started it and then they were able to get airstrikes in to finish it

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theperipherypeople@reddit

Ah, Jack. Classic.

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GITS75@reddit

I guess they're saying Delta because of Eagle Claw...

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deleted_by_reddit@reddit

[removed]

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ff7100@reddit

Where is the crater?? That's not airsttike that'd being shot down

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NecessaryFragrant292@reddit

Democharges

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Mammoth-Scarcity-512@reddit

Totally out of the loop here.

Why did the 130s land in the first place? Was it to fly in helicopters and troops, cos helicopters didn't have the range to get in?

How did troops and crew get out?

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BigJellyfish1906@reddit

Whoever said it “got stuck” is lying or unwittingly repeating a lie. As if they intentionally landed and got surprised by the sand. That’s obviously bullshit for exactly this reason. Who could have POSSIBLY foreseen this 100,000 lb airplane getting stuck in terrain that nobody checked or prepared? Hmmmm?

The only possible reason they landed was because they were forced to, either by mechanical failure or suffering damage. My bet is the first one. The Iranians brought it down, but thankfully they had the contingency of abandoning it and getting the crew out via helo.

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SetOpening3163@reddit

You seem to know nothing about what a C-130 does. You should stop spewing your ignorance across the sub

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MetaCalm@reddit

On the first day they used Blackhawks and refuelling assuming no ground based resistance which didn't go quite well. Two BHs got damaged and crews injured. So they tried smaller and more agile helis carried on C130.

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Straittail_53@reddit

A Forward Arming and Refueling Point (FARP) is a temporary, mobile military facility used to refuel and rearm aircraft, typically helicopters, closer to the area of operations than their main base. This proximity significantly reduces aircraft turnaround time, allowing for sustained and rapid aviation support during combat or special operations.

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hubo@reddit

Yes. Similarly out of the loop.

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IncredibleVelocity4@reddit

We will get a dramatic and probably not very true story soon, followed by a movie, followed by dribbles of the truth 10-20 years in the future.

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Imaginary-Advance-19@reddit

Maybe to drop off fuel bladders for refuelling.

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this-aint-Lisp@reddit

Never in world history has so much money been spent on avoiding one single POW.

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SweatyLake6695@reddit

the thing is that just the base cost of training a single F15e pilot is already at more than 7 million USD alone, count to that the cost of additional training flight hours post graduation, experience gathered during prior deployments that qualify the pilot to be part of this specific campaign and unique personality suited to flying combat aircraft that had to be vetted for in the first place and so on...

A pilot is one of the most expensive human beings you can foster.

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vogel927@reddit

Unfortunately after you eject your career is potentially over. Theres a 30%-70% chance that you could end up with a vertebral fracture. I think it’s like 18gs when you eject. That’s a lot of vertical weight on your spine.

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i_should_go_to_sleep@reddit

Your flying career can be over, but you are still extremely valuable because we need pilots/WSOs in the planning cells and command centers. With their experience level they can free up another body to go out and do the flying while they serve as the expert in HQ.

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firstLOL@reddit

Plus when you get out you get to go on all the military podcasts.

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faustianredditor@reddit

And that would be the cost of telling this pilot to take a cyanide pill. The cost of telling all your pilots that it's cyanide pill time whenever they get shot down.... Well, it's a bit of a bummer, and while morale can't be quantified, the US Air Force isn't world class because it gets away with half measures.

The cost of letting this pilot get captured and spill all the classified info he's got to Iran? Let's not even try to compare that.

Also, the 300m or whatever estimate is a post-hoc number. It's not "this is what these missions cost". More like "this is what these missions can cost in some cases". But the calculus is probably usually more like "we're going to put 1b of equipment and its crew in increased danger, in the expectation that these guys know what they're doing and they'll get our guy out without an issue. No losses". And sometimes stuff just goes south. In this case, no prisoners, no dead, so it's really only a minor scratch.

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this-aint-Lisp@reddit

?And that would be the cost of telling this pilot to take a cyanide pill. The cost of telling all your pilots that it's cyanide pill

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faustianredditor@reddit

I'm saying by calculating the cost of the pilot's training and "human resources" cost, you're implicitly starting from the position that the alternative is for the pilot to die and not leave the iranians with anything. The cyanide pill is a bit over the top, admittedly.

But the actual cost is higher than the cost of training a replacement, because either you let the pilot live and get captured, or the pilot dies (again, doesn't have to be literal cyanide) and every pilot in the USAF now knows that if they get shot down, that's what awaits them.

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i_should_go_to_sleep@reddit

Just to add some info to this, this wasn’t an F-15 pilot. The training is significantly cheaper and shorter for a WSO, but that still doesn’t make it cheap or short by any means. Also this wasn’t a very experienced WSO and that experience is where the real “priceless” tag comes in.

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zoobernarf@reddit

Wasn’t this a colonel?

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ByteSizedGenius@reddit

The pilot apparently was. It isn't uncommon for newly trained WSO's to be paired with experienced pilots and vice versa.

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WhyUFuckinLyin@reddit

The political fallout from him being captured by Iran and used for propaganda is probably even more costly.

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Shot_Grand1532@reddit

They’re going to make movies about this

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this-aint-Lisp@reddit

They’re going to use AI to make Tom Cruise look 30 years younger 😭

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Phospherus2@reddit

I’d rather have this than anyone captured.

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Healthy_Razzmatazz38@reddit

if iran captured him the us wouldn't be able to walk away, and the iranians would stick to their maximalist demands.

The lock of the strait causing increasing economic damage puts a time limit on the conflict, and having a hostage prevents the US from dictating end. Basically Iran wins.

He was worth billions to prevent being used as a bargaining chip.

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EntireTeam8139@reddit

You overestimate the importance of the straight of Hormuz to the US.

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IncredibleVelocity4@reddit

Have you filled your tank lately? Seems important to me.

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rockytop24@reddit

It transports 20% of the global oil supply through its waters. It's important to everyone, you absolute dunce.

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lostinspacs@reddit

This really makes the IRGC look pathetic and incompetent.

How the hell is the enemy force camped out in your territory for two days and you can’t push them back or capture the pilot?

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Immediate-Spite-5905@reddit

when a pilot is downed USAF does literally everything it can to rescue them.

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this-aint-Lisp@reddit

I understand the sentiment, but what if US soldiers had been killed during the operation? Then this would have made no sense at all.

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Top_Pay_5352@reddit

Because of morale. Knowing that everything will be focussed on your rescue, that means you as a pilot will also fly dangerous missions...

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u_touch_my_tra_la_la@reddit

It's a political thing, not a numbers thing.

One captured airman is worse than one rescued airman and seventeen dead. The dead are héroes and count on the win side.

Yes, that is fucking grim.

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William_Shaftner@reddit

I just learned about the search and rescue of Bat 21 Bravo during Vietnam from another comment.

“Five additional aircraft were shot down during rescue attempts, directly resulting in the deaths of 11 airmen, the capture of two others, and another airman trying to evade capture”.

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Dereg5@reddit

It wouldn't be the first time. Think of the movie Lone Survivor or Blackhawk Down. Lone Survivor 16 people died when they shot down their helicopter while trying to rescue them. Blackhawk Down famously has two Delta Sniper get dropped off knowing they would probably die which they did.

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PadinnPlays@reddit

The pararescue motto is so "that others may live."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Air_Force_Pararescue

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NoProfession8024@reddit

They suppose to just leave him there?

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Pleasework94@reddit

Worth every penny though. Knowing that such effort will be invested in you if you go down is what allows you to operate more “comfortably” in these areas.

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ASDFzxcvTaken@reddit

Sure, but also knowing that your leadership won't ask you to do really stupid shit would make you feel more comfortable and get more people willing to serve

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Pleasework94@reddit

Definitely, just talking about the CSAR aspect now.

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SigmundFloyd76@reddit

Like when they broke the worlds most successful leverage miner/spy outta jail and murdered some rando in his place and concocted the whole did/didn't kill himself as distraction because you don't just kill off somebody of such profound value. Like that?

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roundingcapehorn@reddit

It’s to avoid Iran having any leverage to negotiate.

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marenicolor@reddit

Bowe Bergdahl just came to mind as I read this. Idk if he was even counted as a POW in the end.

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Taguysy@reddit

Not really, there are been much worse — for example SAR of BAT 21 Bravo

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William_Shaftner@reddit

For those also needing to look that up.

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Stan_Halen_@reddit

Operation Red Wings II

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vogel927@reddit

That mission failed before it even started.

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bavindicator@reddit

Desert One-II Electric Boogaloo

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7Seyo7@reddit

Which happened during Easter. How fitting

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Uncle_Bobby_B_@reddit

And it’s money very well spent. The morale gain is HUGE

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Zombiehacker595@reddit

The monetary value is pretty insignificant to the obscene U.S defence budget, but the optics of an American POW would have been so much worse.

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U-Gotta-Stop-Crying@reddit

Well there wouldn't be "so much winning" if Iran paraded a captured US POW all over the news wouldn't it?

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False_Measurement843@reddit

It was Matt Damon.

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Robert-Berman@reddit

I’ve seen a lot of conflicting reports on the type of C-130, meaning , was it an AC or just HC or both? I deployed with CSAR a few years ago in HC-130’s and was an experience like I’ve never experienced and have a lot of PJ’s I still call friends.

I know this was during the rescue, therefore I would imagine the HC but at the same time, the AC would be putting down suppression so that too is plausible. Does anyone have a valid source ?

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Komrade-Seals@reddit

These were planes stuck on the ground (literally), unable to take off. An AC-130 definitely would not be landing for an operation like this, doubly so in enemy territory.

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BigJellyfish1906@reddit

No C-130 would be landing in enemy territory like this. Anyone saying this is some kind of tactic is repeating a lie. A lie to save face.

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Phospherus2@reddit

“No C-130 would be landing in enemy territory like this”.

Expect they literally did. That’s what they do.

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BigJellyfish1906@reddit

No it is not. C-130s land in forward deployed areas where ground personnel have inspected and prepared the landing area for an aircraft. Landing in a random field no one has ever stepped foot on to inspect is absolutely not a thing. ESPECIALLY this far into enemy territory. This charred wreck is showing you EXACTLY WHY.

This plane was forced down. Anyone saying otherwise doesn’t know what they’re talking about.

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Phospherus2@reddit

We found the IRGC bot everyone

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BigJellyfish1906@reddit

If I’m a bot, then why can’t you refute what I’m saying? You can’t outsmart a bot? Are you sure that’s how you wanna spin this?

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EarCareful4430@reddit

Sky news in the uk are pointing out this wreckage is reportedly 400km away from the pilot rescue site.

Which makes its involvement in the rescue less plausible. Maybe another special op tho.

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lostinspacs@reddit

This really makes the IRGC look pathetic and incompetent.

How the hell does the enemy force camp out deep in your territory for 2 days and you can’t even push them back or capture the pilot? Insane

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EarCareful4430@reddit

Almost as pathetic and incompetent as declaring a win on day one and clearly having not won

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BigJellyfish1906@reddit

Because that’s not what happened at all.

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FMC_Speed@reddit

I’m very skeptical of this and I sense it was downed but after they evacuated everyone on choppers they blew it up and made the “stuck in sand” study

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boomerberg@reddit

According to Mikey Kay on the BBC News in the UK, 2 “got stuck in san or gravel” so they landed 3 more in the same place which were able to take off fine… Okay…

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BigJellyfish1906@reddit

He’s clueless. Landing 100,000 aircraft in the middle of nowhere in enemy territory, with no prior inspection or preparation, is not a thing. This airplane was obviously brought down and this was an emergency landing.

Anyone trying to say this is some kind of tactic is only doing so to protect egos.

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Puzzleheaded-Race-22@reddit

This actually makes a lot of sense. They needed thred the second time around to distribute the weight acros three aircraft rather than just two.

Wonder how confident they were that it would work.

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FoXtroT_ZA@reddit

If I had a nickel for every time a US C-130 and helicopters were destroyed on the ground in the Iranian desert, I'd have two. Which isn't a lot but its weird that it happened twice.

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GITS75@reddit

Would be more weird if Delta was involved

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Straittail_53@reddit

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Straittail_53@reddit

HE IS RISEN!

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FoXtroT_ZA@reddit

Honestly would not be surprised if they were.

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GITS75@reddit

Probably as some details pointed into that direction... But almost 46 years after Eagle Claw and the disaster at Desert One (April 24th/25th 1989)...

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Hares_ear1947@reddit

Almost 37 years*

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GITS75@reddit

But I mistyped 1980.

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pseudonymeme@reddit

back to the shooting down of the F15 (or A-10) - does anybody have any reliable info about how did it happen? (manpad / aaa / sam / something else...)

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Tussen3tot20tekens@reddit

Most likely passive infrared

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pseudonymeme@reddit

yes, most likely

another question would be why was it low enough for infrared manpad - chasing drones as seen in some footage? (from iraq, so not completely safe either)

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Phospherus2@reddit

Yea those are 100% destroyed by airstrikes. Contrary to what the IRGC will say, a debris field won’t look like that unless they were purposely blown up.

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atc_zero1@reddit

This gen of fighters too worried about their cell phones

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2plus2_equals_5@reddit

What a waste. I hope everyone is enjoying their high prices. This war started by one man will be the downfall of the US economy.

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allusium@reddit

Not just the economy, but the petrodollar and dollar hegemony. This is way more than a recession, it’s a full reset of the global economic order.

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2plus2_equals_5@reddit

Yes, that’s a possibility. I don’t understand why we’re involved there in the first place. I’m dealing with higher costs and struggling to get by while my government is spending resources on a war.

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AtariFerrariNH@reddit

I don't know how many of those we have, but between losing 4 special ops aircraft, and an E-3, we sure are burning through our inventory of specialized/expensive aircraft.

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Bulky-Leadership-596@reddit

We have about 130 of them.

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Joyous-Volume-67@reddit

no crater, no airstrike, these aircraft were blown up by special forces with explosives

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a_bored_lady@reddit

Lol no.

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Johnny-Cash-Facts@reddit

Pack it up guys, John Explosion told us what happened.

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Extreme-Island-5041@reddit

Demolition Dan and his brother C4 Carl talked it out and decided that JDAM James was a dick last night at the bar and would have no fun.

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Forward_Union6938@reddit

US destoryed US aircraft! I think now i need nirvana!

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Mickey_Pro@reddit

This is what winning looks like

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johngalt1971@reddit

We do have a history of destroying our own aircraft on the ground while in Iran.

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Much-Buy-5830@reddit

cant wait to see a movie on this like.. black hawk down

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BaseConnect1420@reddit

There’s definitely more to this unfolding event than we know so far

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MaintenanceOwn6673@reddit

These kinds of losses are worth it to support our greatest ally Israel 🇮🇱

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Hypouxa@reddit

What the Afghan exit should have looked like.

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cream_cheese_tits@reddit

The helicopter rotors are bent, that wouldn't happen if they were on the ground when blown up. It's more likely Iran shot these down.

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lucius-vorenius@reddit

Im sure thats what happened.

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biggy-cheese03@reddit

If they had been shot down they wouldn’t be clustered together like this

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DaimonHans@reddit

Money was never an issue.

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DrothReloaded@reddit

Glad we got to pay for all of that as well.... Appreciate it.

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MyOtherAltIsRegret@reddit

What the fuck? We have soooo few of these assets.

TOML 👣

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Dan26air@reddit

So the us destroyed their own planes and helicopters ? I don't understand

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EntertainmentOwn8627@reddit

That's the official version. The real version is probably they got struck or shot down by Iran.

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Contundo@reddit

They wouldn’t be clustered if it were shot down.

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Alien_invader44@reddit

If you cant get high tech kit out, its pretty standard to blow it up to avoid it being captured.

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Zestyclose-Big7719@reddit

not much tech there anyway

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Alien_invader44@reddit

Maybe, probably worth it purely from a PR perspective, deprive them of trophies.

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Realliberal2028@reddit

No worries not everyone is in the right part of the bell curve

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84Cressida@reddit

So the enemy can’t use it or use any technology. We did the same thing to a damaged helicopter in the Bin Laden raid.

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Bounan@reddit

Apparently they were disabled and then they blew them up to prevent them falling into enemy hands but not confirmed

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84Cressida@reddit

No, it’s long confirmed.

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Lost-Actuary-2395@reddit

To prevent falling into enemies hands

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GamingAviator733@reddit

Iran already has c130s.

I believe this is similar to previous military operations where the US underestimated anti-air capabilities and was forced to decommission an already downed aircraft.

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Frozefoots@reddit

Self destruct to prevent enemy forces from using your tech.

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completelypositive@reddit

Every video of every plane I've seen in Iran, in less than 24 hours I've seen footage of it being blown up

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Competitive-Care-927@reddit

Judging by the crater sizes and how completely vaporized the main fuselages are, they didn't take any chances. probably dropped a couple of jdams right on top of them to make sure absolutely zero comms or classified tech could be salvaged.

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Top_Display_6105@reddit

absolutely brutal seeing those hc-130s turned into scorched earth. standard equipment denial protocol when things go south, but it still physically hurts to look at those airframes just gone.

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okpaimeihereicome@reddit

What a dumb title

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post-explainer@reddit

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