CBS Reveals Scale, Cost of Op to Recover Two American Airmen Shot down near Isfahan

By Staff, Agencies

A Newly declassified footage has revealed US troops operating deep inside Iran during an April mission to recover two American airmen whose F-15E Strike Eagle was shot down near Isfahan.

More than 90 US service members were ultimately deployed on the ground, while several hundred personnel were in the air and several thousand supported the operation, CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper told CBS’ 60 Minutes. He described them as the first acknowledged US “boots on the ground” in Iran in 46 years.

The two-seat F-15E, valued by CBS at about $30 million, was brought down on April 3 by an Iranian shoulder-fired missile costing roughly $100,000 while carrying out a strike on facilities linked to Tehran’s missile and drone programs south of Isfahan.

Its crew, identified only by their mission call signs “Alpha” and “Bravo,” ejected and landed about five miles apart.

Alpha, the pilot, was recovered several hours later after the US sent 21 aircraft into Iran. American helicopters came under fire during the extraction, and one was hit by small-arms fire, wounding crew members. An A-10 involved in the search was also hit, forcing its pilot to eject after leaving Iranian airspace.

Newly released infrared footage shows US aircraft striking IRG forces near Bravo’s position before two large special-operations transports landed on a makeshift strip inside Iran. MH-6 “Little Bird” helicopters were then deployed to retrieve him from mountainous terrain.

Another declassified clip shows two US Air Force para-rescuers on the ground inside Iran approaching the wounded Bravo, grabbing him and taking him to an American helicopter.

The extraction then ran into further trouble when two MC-130J Commando II transports allegedly became stuck in soft ground and could not take off. CBS unveiled that the US forces themselves destroyed both aircraft, valued at roughly $100 million each, along with the Little Bird helicopters, to prevent them from falling into Iranian hands. Three additional aircraft had to be sent into Iran to evacuate the stranded force.