New details have emerged about the shootdown of three American aircraft over Kuwait. Recall that on Monday morning, three American F-15E Strike Eagles with undefeated status were shot down by friendly fire from Kuwait. These aircraft were performing combat missions as part of Operation Epic Fury.
Now it has been revealed that all three F-15E Strike Eagles were simultaneously shot down by one Kuwaiti Air Force F/A-18 Hornet. The Wall Street Journal learned this from its own sources.
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During this incident, the F/A-18 Hornet launched one air-to-air missile at each American F-15E Strike Eagle. All three missiles reached their targets and inflicted fatal damage on the aircraft.
Defense Express adds that humor is added to this situation by the fact that the F/A-18 Hornet set a new record for the number of aircraft shot down in one sortie thanks to this incident. According to available information, over the years of F/A-18 Hornet operation, no more than one aircraft was shot down per sortie.
Besides the new F/A-18 Hornet record, this incident is also interesting because American F-15E Strike Eagles apparently did not display in the identification friend or foe system of the Kuwaiti F/A-18 Hornets. Otherwise, onboard electronics would hardly have allowed the launch.
Though Kuwait is quite a close U.S. ally, they should have been united by an identification friend or foe system, at least amid preparation for operations against iran and plans to operate in Kuwaiti airspace. However, this was not done or the system malfunctioned.
During this sortie, the F/A-18 Hornet was likely hunting iranian aviation, as reports emerged that it was operating in that region. This is precisely why the F/A-18 Hornet pilot could have confused American aircraft with iranian ones.
Recall that Kuwait has 31 single-seat F/A-18C units as well as 8 two-seat F/A-18D units in service. This incident will go down in history as the most expensive friendly fire episode in modern history, as it will cost approximately $300 million.
It remains unknown whether Americans will demand that Kuwait pay compensation for the shot-down aircraft, as the sum is not small. Additional details about this incident will likely be published later, so we can only wait for now.
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