Key Background
The crashed Apache is the latest in a series of U.S. military aircraft losses in the Middle East since the start of the Iran War earlier this year. Earlier this month, Iran shot down a U.S. MQ-1 Predator drone over the Persian Gulf and CENTCOM responded by striking Iranian drone control and missile launch sites. Since the start of the conflict, Iran has managed to shoot down nearly 30 of the larger MQ-9 Reaper attack drones and one A-10 ground attack aircraft. The most closely followed such shootdown occurred in early April when a U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle was shot down deep over Iranian territory, prompting a major search and recovery effort that led to the two crew members being rescued. Three other F-15Es had been shot down earlier in the conflict over Kuwait in a friendly fire incident. Iran has also managed to destroy or damage several U.S. aircraft on the ground in airbases across the Gulf, including KC-135 aerial refueling tankers and an E-3 airborne early warning radar jet.
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