Newly declassified footage has revealed previously unseen moments from a high-risk U.S. military rescue operation carried out deep inside Iran following the shootdown of an American F-15E Strike Eagle in April 2026.
The aircraft, operating under the callsign DUDE 44, was shot down over Iran on April 3 during U.S. military operations. Both crew members ejected from the two-seat fighter. The pilot was recovered relatively quickly, while the aircraft’s weapons systems officer (WSO) remained behind enemy lines and evaded Iranian forces for an extended period.
The WSO, identified publicly by the callsign “Bravo,” was eventually located and recovered by U.S. special operations and Air Force personnel after spending roughly two days in hostile territory. Recent reporting says the officer survived for approximately 50 hours before the final extraction.
The newly released footage shows U.S. personnel reaching the injured airman inside Iran, securing him and moving him toward an extraction helicopter.
A Massive Combat Search-and-Rescue Operation
The recovery operation developed into a large-scale combat search-and-rescue mission involving U.S. special operations forces, Air Force pararescue personnel, helicopters, transport aircraft, fighter aircraft, tankers and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets.
Air & Space Forces Magazine reported that the two-day operation involved hundreds of personnel and dozens of aircraft, while later accounts described a much larger supporting force. President Donald Trump said the operation involved 155 U.S. aircraft, including fighters, bombers, tankers and rescue aircraft.
The mission was conducted while Iranian forces were also searching for the missing WSO.
According to reports, U.S. helicopters encountered small-arms fire during the operation, with some crew members wounded. U.S. aircraft also provided protection for the rescue force and worked to prevent Iranian units from reaching the recovery site.
A U.S. military official subsequently described the mission as one of the most challenging and complex operations in the history of U.S. special operations.
The F-15E Strike Eagle
The aircraft lost in the incident was an F-15E Strike Eagle, a two-seat, all-weather multirole strike fighter developed from the F-15 Eagle.
The F-15E was designed for long-range interdiction and precision strike while retaining strong air-to-air capabilities. The U.S. Air Force lists two Pratt & Whitney engine options for the aircraft: the F100-PW-220, producing up to approximately 50,000 pounds of combined thrust, and the F100-PW-229, producing approximately 58,000 pounds of combined thrust.
F-15E — Key Technical Data
Crew: 2 — pilot and weapons systems officer
Length: approximately 19.4 meters
Wingspan: approximately 13 meters
Maximum takeoff weight: approximately 36.7 tonnes
Maximum speed: approximately Mach 2.5
Service ceiling: around 60,000 feet / 18,288 meters
Engines: 2 × Pratt & Whitney F100-series afterburning turbofans
Role: air-to-air combat, precision strike and deep interdiction
Weapons: air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons, including AIM-9, AIM-120 and precision-guided munitions
The aircraft’s two-seat configuration is particularly important in strike missions. The pilot is responsible for flying the aircraft while the WSO manages sensors, targeting and weapons systems.
The WSO’s Survival Behind Enemy Lines
After ejecting from the F-15E, the WSO managed to evade capture despite being injured and operating alone in unfamiliar terrain.
The search became a race against time as Iranian forces attempted to locate him while U.S. forces assembled an increasingly large recovery operation.
Recent accounts indicate that the WSO moved through mountainous terrain and remained concealed while U.S. surveillance assets searched for him. The rescue force ultimately reached him and transported him to safety.
The newly declassified footage provides an unusual look at the final phase of the operation, showing U.S. rescue personnel physically reaching the isolated airman and extracting him from Iranian territory.
A Rare Look at Modern Combat Rescue
The operation has drawn significant attention because it demonstrates the extraordinary complexity of recovering military personnel from heavily contested territory.
The mission required coordination between special operations forces, combat search-and-rescue teams, helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft, aerial refueling assets and intelligence platforms.
The release of the footage now provides the public with a rare visual record of a mission that, until recently, remained largely classified.
For the U.S. military, the successful recovery of both F-15E crew members represented the completion of a high-risk personnel recovery mission after the loss of one of its most capable strike aircraft over Iran.
