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Former United States Air Force pilot Dr. Ravi Chaudhary, who served as director of personnel recovery during the Iraq war, has given an assessment of the difficulties of the recent operation to extract the crew of an F-15 fighter jet shot down in Iranian territory.
According to him, the main challenge in such an operation is establishing contact with the crew without revealing the position of the rescue forces to the enemy. “What made this extraction so difficult was that the rescue teams had to establish contact with the crew of the aircraft without giving their position to the enemy forces ,” Chaudhary said.
He added that such operations take place in dangerous conditions and require high coordination. “It would have been a terrible night for the rescue forces and the American pilots. There are several ways you can extract the aircrew ,” he said. Chaudhary explained that one method involves lifting the pilot from the helicopter while he is still in the air through a harness system, while another alternative is to land on the ground and physically approach the pilot. At the same time, according to him, the forces must coordinate offensive assets to provide cover and protection for the rescue teams.
Chaudhary, who has a 21-year career in the US Air Force, described this type of operation as one of the most complex in the military field.
According to information so far, both crew members of the F-15 aircraft, the pilot and the weapons systems officer, have been rescued. US President Donald Trump stated that the weapons systems officer, an unidentified colonel, was “seriously injured”. The BBC reports that the injuries may have occurred during the ejection from the aircraft.
Trump also said the rescue operation took place "deep inside the mountains of Iran," although the exact location has not been made public. He added that no American personnel were killed during the operation.
However, some elements still remain unclear. The identities of the pilot and weapons systems officer have not been made public. It is also not known exactly what American assets may have been damaged during the operation.
Verified images circulating in the media appear to show the remains of a plane burning in a mountainous area of central Iran. In parallel, there are various reports from Iranian sources and US media of destroyed planes, but these have not been independently confirmed.
It is also unclear how many troops took part in the operation. According to CBS News, the BBC's US partner, there was no exchange of fire during the rescue mission and fewer than 100 troops were involved in the operation.
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