'F-35 among 20 aircraft damaged': Report flags US aircraft losses in Iran conflict
A US Air Force F-35A was reportedly damaged during a combat mission over Iran on March 19
- Mar 26, 2026,
- Updated Mar 26, 2026 6:20 PM IST
Geostrategist Brahma Chellaney on Thursday pointed to a report suggesting that US military losses in the ongoing Iran conflict may be higher than publicly acknowledged.
Also read: 'Get serious before it's too late': Trump's fresh warning to Iran as Tehran denies talks
"Both the US And Israel maintain active, though structurally distinct, forms of censorship on enemy strikes against sensitive installations and systems, with Israel even operating a formal military censor," he wrote on X. "Yet Air & Space Forces Magazine, a publication closely linked to the US military, reports that around 20 US."
Citing the report, Chellaney said US Air Force aircraft were damaged or destroyed within the first three weeks of the war. "Among them was an F-35A stealth fighter - the cornerstone of American airpower - damaged by Iranian ground fire," he wrote.
Air & Space Forces Magazine, in its March 22 report, said a US Air Force F-35A was damaged during a combat mission over Iran on March 19, with the pilot sustaining shrapnel wounds.
The aircraft was hit by ground fire and later made an emergency landing at a regional air base, according to US Central Command. The pilot was in "stable condition," a spokesperson said.
According to the report, the aircraft was most likely struck by a surface-to-air missile, given the altitude at which F-35 jets typically operate, though the incident remains under investigation.
On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump downplayed the loss of three American fighter jets in friendly fire. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump brushed aside the downing of F-15 aircraft in the early days of Operation Epic Fury as "a little bit of a mishap".
The US military had acknowledged the jets were mistakenly shot down by allied Kuwaiti air defences. "We shot down three planes with our missiles. They happened to be our planes. But can you imagine the pilots making it?" Trump said.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps released a video on March 19 claiming to show an F-35 being targeted, but its authenticity has not been confirmed. Tehran also said it had targeted a US F-15E Strike Eagle near its coast on March 22.
The report added that the F-35 incident was part of the losses, with about 20 US Air Force aircraft damaged or destroyed in the nearly three-week-old conflict.
These include three F-15E Strike Eagles downed in a friendly fire incident on March 2, as well as the loss of a KC-135 Stratotanker that crashed in western Iraq on March 12, killing all six personnel on board. Another tanker was damaged in the same incident but landed safely.
The report also said that about a dozen MQ-9 Reaper drones have been lost during the conflict, some of them damaged on the ground during Iranian strikes on US bases.
Geostrategist Brahma Chellaney on Thursday pointed to a report suggesting that US military losses in the ongoing Iran conflict may be higher than publicly acknowledged.
Also read: 'Get serious before it's too late': Trump's fresh warning to Iran as Tehran denies talks
"Both the US And Israel maintain active, though structurally distinct, forms of censorship on enemy strikes against sensitive installations and systems, with Israel even operating a formal military censor," he wrote on X. "Yet Air & Space Forces Magazine, a publication closely linked to the US military, reports that around 20 US."
Citing the report, Chellaney said US Air Force aircraft were damaged or destroyed within the first three weeks of the war. "Among them was an F-35A stealth fighter - the cornerstone of American airpower - damaged by Iranian ground fire," he wrote.
Air & Space Forces Magazine, in its March 22 report, said a US Air Force F-35A was damaged during a combat mission over Iran on March 19, with the pilot sustaining shrapnel wounds.
The aircraft was hit by ground fire and later made an emergency landing at a regional air base, according to US Central Command. The pilot was in "stable condition," a spokesperson said.
According to the report, the aircraft was most likely struck by a surface-to-air missile, given the altitude at which F-35 jets typically operate, though the incident remains under investigation.
On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump downplayed the loss of three American fighter jets in friendly fire. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump brushed aside the downing of F-15 aircraft in the early days of Operation Epic Fury as "a little bit of a mishap".
The US military had acknowledged the jets were mistakenly shot down by allied Kuwaiti air defences. "We shot down three planes with our missiles. They happened to be our planes. But can you imagine the pilots making it?" Trump said.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps released a video on March 19 claiming to show an F-35 being targeted, but its authenticity has not been confirmed. Tehran also said it had targeted a US F-15E Strike Eagle near its coast on March 22.
The report added that the F-35 incident was part of the losses, with about 20 US Air Force aircraft damaged or destroyed in the nearly three-week-old conflict.
These include three F-15E Strike Eagles downed in a friendly fire incident on March 2, as well as the loss of a KC-135 Stratotanker that crashed in western Iraq on March 12, killing all six personnel on board. Another tanker was damaged in the same incident but landed safely.
The report also said that about a dozen MQ-9 Reaper drones have been lost during the conflict, some of them damaged on the ground during Iranian strikes on US bases.