We have him: US's 176-aircraft blitz, decoy ops to save F-15E crew

The US deployed an "air armada", covert intelligence tools, and a deception campaign to rescue a two-man F-15E Strike Eagle crew shot down deep inside Iran, President Donald Trump and top defence officials revealed.

The high-risk operation, spanning nearly two days, involved about 176 aircraft and hundreds of personnel, according to Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen Dan Caine, who called the twin extractions "incredibly dangerous".

The pilot of the F-15E, whose call sign was Dude 44 Alpha, was recovered within hours of the jet going down on Friday.

"We control the skies. You see, we flew for seven hours in daylight over Iran to get the first pilot. And Iran did nothing about it," said Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth said at a joint press briefing at the White House.

The second aviator, a weapons systems officer (WSO) with call sign Dude 44 Bravo, was rescued nearly two days later after a complex search in mountainous terrain.

HUNT IN HOSTILE SKIES

Trump described helicopters, fighter jets and refuelling aircraft pushing deep into Iranian airspace, flying low for hours and "at times facing very, very heavy enemy fire".

Brushing aside the shootdown of the multi-million-dollar fighter jet as a “lucky hit”, the US President said, “Eventually, you get lucky. But we get lucky, too.”

The aircraft involved ranged from A-10 Warthogs and HH-60 Jolly Green II rescue helicopters to HC-130 Combat King II refuellers, alongside drones and other unmanned systems, Gen Caine said. Some warplanes came under fire and took damage during the op.

‘WE HAVE HIM’

The search for the WSO, whose call sign was Dude 44 Bravo, became a test of precision and patience.

Injured and “bleeding profusely,” the aviator moved away from the crash site, climbed rugged terrain and activated what Trump called a "very sophisticated beeper-type apparatus".

CIA Director John Ratcliffe said the agency used “exquisite technologies that no other intelligence service” possesses, as well as a subterfuge mission to mislead Iranian forces who were hunting for the airman.

The effort, he said, was "comparable to hunting for a single grain of sand in the middle of a desert".

Then came the break.

Trump said surveillance picked up a faint movement in the mountains. A camera tracked it for 45 minutes before it went still. They almost thought it was a dead-end.

"But it was the head of a human being," he said. "And then all of a sudden, 45 minutes later, he moved a lot, stood up, and they said, ‘We have him.’"

This was "the beginning of something incredible", the President added.

DECOYS AND DESTRUCTION

The rescue push leaned heavily on misdirection. Trump said 155 aircraft were used in the WSO extraction alone. Per Axios, seven landing locations were in play, but only one was “legit”.

As drones and strike aircraft provided cover, cargo planes flew in three small helicopters, assembling them near the mountainous hideout.

But extraction came with a hitch: the cargo planes, weighed down by personnel and equipment, could not take off from the sandy terrain.

There was only one, very costly, choice to be made.

After the rescued officer and extraction team were lifted out by "lighter, faster aircraft", the equipment left behind was destroyed to prevent it from falling into Iranian hands.

This reportedly included two MC-130J transport planes, which cost roughly $100 million per unit.

TRUE GRIT

Gen Caine praised both crew members of the F-15E for staying clear-headed and evading capture behind enemy lines.

"The courage demonstrated by both the pilot and the weapons systems officer, while isolated and evading the enemy, cannot be overstated," he said.

Terming it a historic rescue, Trump said, "America’s military descended on the real area, engaged the enemy, rescued the stranded officer, destroyed all threats and exited Iranian territory."

- Ends

With inputs from Associated Press