F-35 beware! American stealth fighter has been shot down, and an innovative method was used to lock on to the advanced combat jet

Time of India

17-06-2025

Iran claims to have shot down three Israeli F-35I Adir fifth generation stealth jets during the ongoing combat operations. Iranian forces also say they have captured at least one of the female pilots flying what is touted as the world's most advanced fighter aircraft.
Israel, on the other hand, denies losing any aircraft during the bombing run on Iran, and instead claims to have established aerial superiority over the skies of its adversary.
Israel Defense Forces
have been routinely releasing videos of air and missile strikes on Iranian air defence systems and missile launchers, with the claims of having destroyed at least a third of the latter, delivering a massive blow to Tehran's plans to target its enemy.
But are the Iranian claims of having shot down multiple F-35I Adirs true?
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While the truth may take some time to come out as wartime claims and counter claims continue, what is clear that Iran did try to shoot down the Israeli jets during their bombing runs. Israel, which used the F-15, F-16 and F-35 jets to hit military and nuclear facilities in Iran, has categorically stated that none of its aircraft have been shot down, let alone its prized stealth jets.
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However, American stealth combat aircraft are not immune and one was indeed brought down by a technologically less advanced adversary, and this incident happened in the last century. Another stealth jet was shot at by a surface-to-air missile and though it managed to get back to its base, the damage ensured that it was never flown again.
US F-117A Nighthawk stealth fighter shot down
Let's recount what happened during the civil war in the then Yugoslavia in 1999 when the United States Air Force lost a Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk stealth ground attack aircraft with serial number 82-0806 to what many considered a Soviet era obsolete surface-to-air missile system.
As the civil war in the now defunct Yugoslavia raged on in the mid and late 1990s, the
NATO
led by the US stepped in. The US Air Force deployed its F-117A Nighthawk, the first-ever operational stealth combat jet in the world, to patrol the skies over the breaking Yugoslavia.
During one such patrol on the night of March 27, 1999, a F-117A, call sign "Vega-31" and piloted by Lieutenant Colonel Darrell Patrick "Dale" Zelko was flying near Belgrade when a unit of the Yugoslavian Army under the command of Lt. Col Zoltán Dani locked on to the fighter. The unit was armed with Soviet Isayev S-125 Neva/ Pechora missile system (NATO reporting name SA-3 Goa), employing a decades old technology developed in the 1950s.
How the US stealth fighter was tracked
Lt. Col Dani employed an innovative and ingenious method to track and lock on to the F-117A by operating his radars thrice, each time only for 20 seconds. At 8:15 pm local time, Lt Col Dani's unit got lucky and was able to lock on to the F-117A when Lt Col Zelko opened the plane's internal bay to drop the bombs, increasing the stealth aircraft's radar cross section area.
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As soon as the F-117A lit up the radar, Lt Col Đorđe Aničić, the soldier responsible for firing the missiles, launched multiple projectiles at the stealth jet. The missiles with a range of 8 miles (13 kilometers) were fired in quick successions and the air defence system was operational for just 17 seconds to avoid detection by NATO.
The jet about about 14 miles (23 km) away from the Yugoslav air defence unit when it was locked on. As it approached the area nearer to the Soviet Isayev S-125 Neva system, the missiles already airborne locked on to the jet and went for the kill.
During his debriefing following his rescue, Lt. Col. Zelko recounted that he saw two Isayev S-125 missiles streaking towards him. While the first one missed the F-117A but caused buffeting, the second one detonated. The missile's shrapnel and shockwaves resulted in the stealth jet going down.
The shoot down was also confirmed by a NATO Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker which was over Bosnia at that time.
Lt. Col. Zelko parachuted and hid while Yugoslav soldiers fanned out to hunt him. He, however, managed to escape being captured and was ultimately rescued by a team of US Air Force combat search and rescue team.
More than a month later after the shoot down, another F-117A was on April 30, 1999, hit by the Yugoslavian air defence missile. However, this one did not fall out of the sky and hobbled back to Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany. But the damage suffered by the jet was extensive and the airframe was declared a total loss and never flew again.
The F-117A was retired by the US Air Force in 2008.