Which Iranian Missile Could Have Struck a U.S. F-35 Stealth Fighter?

Which Iranian Missile Could Have Struck a U.S. F-35 Stealth Fighter?

A U.S. Air Force F-35 appears to have been hit by an Iranian air defense missile, forcing it to make an emergency landing. The Pentagon has confirmed the incident and said an investigation is underway.

A U.S. F-35 stealth fighter is believed to have been hit by an Iranian air defense missile (Photo: TWZ).

F-35 Reportedly Hit by Iranian Air Defenses

Details surrounding the incident remain limited, but unverified reports and a circulating video suggest that a U.S. F-35 stealth fighter may have been struck by Iranian fire.

If authentic, the footage would point to the use of an air defense system that The War Zone (TWZ) has repeatedly warned poses a top-tier threat to U.S. and Israeli coalition aircraft—including stealth platforms—operating in Iranian airspace.

Capt. Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson for U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), said the F-35 was “conducting a combat mission in Iranian airspace” when it was forced to make an emergency landing. He declined to comment on whether the aircraft had been hit by hostile fire.

According to a CNN report citing two unnamed sources, the aircraft may indeed have been struck by Iranian air defenses. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is said to have released infrared footage purportedly showing the F-35 being hit over Iranian territory, though the video has not been independently verified.

If confirmed, it would mark the first known instance of a U.S. aircraft being hit by Iranian air defenses since the conflict began late last month. Previously, three U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles were lost to friendly fire from Kuwait in an incident that remains poorly understood. The possibility of fratricide in this case cannot be ruled out.

What Air Defense System Could Threaten an F-35?

While the United States has asserted air superiority over Iran, the skies over the Middle East remain far from secure for U.S. and Israeli air operations. Iran continues to field both mobile ground-based air defense systems and more sophisticated platforms that can be deployed across a wide area, leaving pilots with little time to react.

Electro-optical and infrared (EO/IR)-guided surface-to-air missile systems present a particular challenge, as they are immune to radio-frequency jamming. Fourth-generation U.S. fighters may not even detect an attack until impact.

Although the F-22 and F-35 benefit from advanced missile warning systems, risks persist—especially as air campaigns shift toward more direct strike operations, bringing aircraft closer to potential threats.

“We are flying farther east and deeper into Iranian airspace to hunt and destroy one-way attack drone units and degrade Iran’s ability to project power beyond its borders,” said Gen. Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

However, operating deeper into Iran exposes aircraft to significantly greater threats than in more tightly controlled western airspace.

TWZ has repeatedly cautioned that underestimating Iran’s ability to track and engage coalition aircraft would be a serious miscalculation. Even improvised systems assembled by Iran-backed Houthi forces in Yemen have inflicted damage on advanced fighter jets operated by Gulf Arab states and challenged some of the most sophisticated aircraft in the U.S. arsenal.

Last year, a U.S. official told TWZ that an F-35 stealth fighter had to take evasive action to avoid a Houthi surface-to-air missile.

If the newly surfaced video proves genuine, it would suggest the aircraft may have been targeted by a passive sensor system—one that TWZ has long warned is especially dangerous, as it does not emit detectable radio signals.