A few days after the shootdown of three U.S. Air Force F-15E fighters became public, a new report by The Wall Street Journal claims that the party responsible for this friendly-fire incident would be a Kuwaiti F/A-18 Hornet—contradicting the hypothesis offered so far that the jets were accidentally brought down by air-defense systems. According to U.S. analysts, this is an option that could fit perfectly with the types of damage the downed aircraft are believed to have sustained, as seen in the available material—although there are still no official reports fully confirming it.
The report in question, signed by journalist Lara Seligman, states that this information was floated by three different sources said to be deeply familiar with the incident. As presented, it allegedly took place at a time when Kuwaiti airspace was the scene of a major Iranian attack involving drones directed against U.S. bases, which resulted in the deaths of at least six soldiers deployed there.
With that context in mind, the F/A-18 Hornet would have mistaken the allied F-15Es for hostile threats, prompting a rapid-reaction launch of up to three missiles that caught the U.S. aircraft completely off guard. One of the main possibilities analyzed is that the Arab country’s aircraft used its AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles to carry out the shootdowns—partly explaining why the Strike Eagle pilots may not have been able to detect it and, as a result, execute evasive maneuvers; a situation made worse by the large number of targets present in the battlespace.
Moreover, it is worth noting that the pilots of all three downed aircraft managed to eject safely, which would indicate that the damage sustained by the fighters was relatively less severe than what air-defense missiles would normally cause. One point that strengthens this argument can be found in images showing an F-15E falling from the sky without its vertical stabilizers, as well as with a notable fire in its engines—suggesting it was an air-to-air engagement; all of this still remains in the realm of speculation.
For now, it is necessary to mention that the statement published by CENTCOM after the incident aligns with the hypothesis of a shootdown caused by air-defense systems, which was expressed as follows: “During the active engagement—which included Iranian aircraft attacks, ballistic missiles, and drones—the U.S. Air Force fighters were mistakenly shot down by Kuwaiti air defenses (…) the six aircrew members ejected safely, have been recovered, and are in stable condition.” They also added that Kuwait acknowledged the incident immediately, along with expressing gratitude for its support during the operations directed against Iran.
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