The confirmation by the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) that an F-35 was hit by Iranian fire is challenging the notion of American air superiority and contradicting previous statements by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who claimed that Iranian air defenses had been "totally swept away". This unusual admission from CENTCOM, confirmed by spokesperson Captain Tim Hawkins, marks a historic first, as the U.S. command had never before publicly admitted that one of its fifth-generation stealth fighters had sustained an impact in flight.
This announcement follows a claim by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which released images showing the tracking and interception of the aircraft. The incident raises crucial technical and strategic questions, including how Iran was able to obtain a radar lock on an aircraft designed to be invisible. The F-35 relies on a combination of aerodynamic shapes, absorbent coatings, and electronic signature management to ensure its stealth, its main tactical advantage.
One hypothesis is that Iran used "ghost defenses," dummy installations or electronic decoys, to deceive American reconnaissance satellites and conceal its true radar capabilities. Another explanation lies in Iran's use of passive or bistatic radars, capable of detecting parasitic emissions from aircraft or analyzing signals from telephone towers, thus circumventing the stealth designed for conventional monostatic radars. Iran is believed to have deployed such technology, potentially of Russian or Chinese origin.
The incident could have significant consequences in the short and long term. In the short term, U.S. and Israeli air operations in the region could be reassessed, and the credibility of U.S. intelligence could be compromised. In the long term, this event could reshape air warfare doctrine, challenging the era of total invisibility and potentially redirecting budgets towards electronic countermeasures and passive detection systems.
The unit cost of an F-35 exceeds $100 million. The incident has been described as a complete "intelligence scandal," highlighting the question of whether Iranian defenses were hidden or whether American intelligence was deliberately misled. The IRGC claimed that the interception took place at 2:50 a.m. local time, and was carried out after Iranian units had countered more than 125 American and Israeli drones. The F-35A was forced to make an emergency landing at a U.S. airbase in the Middle East. The pilot is reported to be in stable condition, and an investigation is underway.
