00:08Oh
00:46The
00:47one
00:47is
00:47one
00:48is
00:48is
00:49is
00:49is
00:49I'm happy to follow you.
00:50Keep going.
00:54Do you want to say it?
00:55Hello, we are going to get a light.
00:59You are not looking to light.
01:06It's 6 km only.
01:08Nope, apply 4 km only.
01:12All right.
01:13The signal is high.
01:14Follow is 48.
01:15What are you doing?
01:16First of all, fire.
01:18I'm going to get into the air.
01:20I'm going to get into the air.
01:225, 4,
01:251,
01:262,
01:291,
01:311,
01:331,
03:19The aircraft was a U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle, call sign Dude 44.
03:26It was flying over southwestern Iran during Operation Epic Fury when it was hit by a shoulder-fired surface-to
03:33-air missile, also known as a MANPADS.
03:36Both the pilot and weapons systems officer ejected and survived, but their ordeal was far from over.
03:43The pilot was recovered relatively quickly, while the weapons systems officer reportedly evaded capture in mountainous terrain for nearly two
03:52days before being rescued.
03:53So how did a relatively small missile manage to hit an advanced fighter aircraft?
03:59According to senior U.S. military officials cited by the New York Times, Iran used a drone swarm as part
04:07of the targeting process.
04:08The drones were reportedly able to provide Iranian commanders with three critical pieces of information in real time.
04:16The F-15E's GPS location, its speed, and its direction.
04:21That information helped Iranian forces position the shoulder-fired missile for the engagement.
04:27And then came the most astonishing part.
04:30The F-15E's defensive systems reportedly gave the crew just half a second of warning before the missile struck.
04:38That left virtually no time to react.
04:40Earlier accounts described the Iranian drone formation as resembling a jellyfish, with interconnected drones moving together, creating what some pilots
04:51described as a kind of airborne minefield.
04:54The significance goes beyond the loss of one aircraft.
04:58U.S. officials said Iran had learned from Ukraine, adapting tactics developed and refined during the Russia-Ukraine war.
05:05The key lesson was combining drones with real-time battlefield data to track and target aircraft operating in contested airspace.
05:15In other words, Iran was not simply firing a missile and hoping for a hit.
05:19The drones helped build a targeting picture, and that information was reportedly passed to the forces operating the manpads.
05:27The F-15E itself was described by the New York Times as a roughly $60 million advanced fighter jet in
05:36current dollar terms.
05:37The missile system used against it was dramatically cheaper.
05:41That cost imbalance highlights one of the biggest challenges facing modern militaries.
05:46An expensive, highly sophisticated aircraft can still be vulnerable when inexpensive drones, sensors, and short-range air defense weapons are
05:56combined effectively.
05:57The shoot-down reportedly forced U.S. forces to reassess tactics and highlighted the growing threat posed by low-altitude
06:05operations.
06:06And the incident demonstrated something Iran has repeatedly emphasized throughout the conflict.
06:11Technology alone does not guarantee dominance.
06:15Adaptation, battlefield intelligence, and unconventional tactics can create vulnerabilities, even for some of the world's most advanced combat aircraft.
06:25The April 3rd shoot-down is now being viewed as a major example of how lessons from one battlefield can
06:32rapidly migrate to another.
06:33And as drone warfare continues to evolve, the question is no longer simply who has the most advanced aircraft, but
06:41who can adapt fastest to stop it.
