Overview
- On April 2, an F-15E (call sign Dude 44) was shot down near Isfahan and both crew ejected with the weapons-systems officer, known as Bravo, landing badly injured and separated from his pilot.
- Bravo says his parachute was damaged and he hit the ground at very high speed, breaking his back, shoulder and arm before hiding and climbing to a 7,000-foot ridgeline to evade Iranian forces for roughly 48–50 hours.
- U.S. forces searched for both airmen and rescued the pilot within hours in a daytime raid that came under fire while a later, much larger operation recovered Bravo after CIA-enabled locating and a deception campaign pinpointed his position.
- The extraction used bombers, drones and more than 90 ground personnel with hundreds of supporting air assets, and U.S. commanders ordered the destruction of two stuck transport aircraft and some helicopters to prevent technology capture.
- Officials and the newly declassified material say the episode illustrates how covert intelligence and conventional strikes are being integrated in the wider U.S.–Iran conflict and will shape public debate about the war's conduct.