Iran appears to have downed an A-10 attack aircraft after F-15 incident

[Financial News]

A U.S. Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II "Warthog" attack aircraft has crashed, The New York Times (NYT) reported on the 3rd local time.
Citing two anonymous U.S. government officials, NYT reported that an A-10 attack aircraft went down near the Strait of Hormuz at almost the same time that a McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet was shot down over the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Shortly after the NYT report, the Iranian military also announced that it had shot down an enemy fighter jet near Qeshm Island, a key strategic point in the south.
Ebrahim Zolfaghari, spokesperson for the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, which oversees Iranian military operations, claimed on state television that "an advanced enemy aircraft was shot down south of Qeshm Island."
According to NYT, the sole pilot on board the aircraft was safely rescued.
The United States Department of Defense (DoD), however, has yet to issue an official statement on the A-10 crash, just as it has remained silent on the F-15E incident.
Earlier, foreign media outlets including Cable News Network (CNN) and NYT reported that the Islamic Republic of Iran had claimed to have shot down a Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter jet. However, they also relayed expert assessments that analysis of the wreckage photos suggests the downed aircraft was likely a McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle.
The United States has asserted that it has largely neutralized the Islamic Republic of Iran's air defense network, but the successive loss of fighter jets is now casting doubt on that claim.
The A-10 was designed to provide close air support for ground forces and is so heavily armored that it is often nicknamed a "flying tank." It is considered almost impervious to most conventional anti-aircraft weapons. The fact that an A-10 Warthog has gone down suggests that the new air-defense systems used by the Islamic Republic of Iran may be far more destructive than expected or capable of extremely precise strikes, a development that is deeply unsettling for the United States.
As President Donald Trump has signaled large-scale airstrikes against the Islamic Republic of Iran, concerns are mounting that U.S. military casualties may be unavoidable.
dympna@fnnews.com Song Kyung-jae Reporter