Iran Shoots Down US Jets, US Faces New Threats

0:00On April 4th, Iran just shot down two American fighter jets in F-15 strike Eagle and an A-10 attack plane marking the first time that's happened. In combat in more than 20 years, one crew member got rescued Friday, but officials are still searching for the second. Iranian forces claimed the hits, and this comes amid heavy U.S. and Israeli airstrikes pounding their defenses. Earlier this week, President Trump boasted that Iran's missile and drone game was basically wiped out, but these losses proved Iran can still bite. Back after five weeks of getting hammered, U.S. Central Command says they flown over 13,000 missions and hit more than 12,000 targets so far. Experts like retired generals and think tank folks are calling it a wake-up. America's been fighting low-tech insurgents without real anti-air threats. So jet losses stayed rare. Pilots train hard for ejections and rescues and hot zones, but flying lower makes them sitting ducks. The public, not used to any blood in these drone-era wars, and that could stir up real backlash.

1:04New analysis points to shoulder fired missiles, the portable kind that's tough to spot and super lethal even from a weakened enemy. Helicopters face even bigger risks, hovering low for rescues, like those brave teens out there now. Bottom line, the U.S. holds air superiority over Iran, but supremacy? Not quite. Tehran's degraded, but digging in, keeping this conflict messy and unpredictable as it drags on. I'm Corey with The Story, and you've been listening to Global News Today, AI-powered Global Coverage.