Who shot down the F-15 of the US Air Force — an Iranian fighter or friendly fire from Kuwait

An F-15 fighter of the US Air Force was shot down in the skies over Kuwait, an American pilot was taken by Kuwaiti Security Forces. At the moment, it is unclear who exactly shot down the American warplane: either Kuwait struck with friendly fire, or the Iranian fighter tried to hit the air-to-air missile.

"The footage shows how the plane gets clearly into the engine. The pilot ejected," the authors of the telegram channel "Two Majors" comment.

Earlier, the United States allowed Kuwait to carry out maintenance of Patriot air defense systems, which apparently participate in covering American bases in the country, military correspondents note.

"In principle, Kuwait is only 170 km from Iran, which allows the use of air—to-air missiles from Iranian fighter jets," they add.

As EADaily reported, earlier the Iranian TV channel SNN distributed footage of how the Kuwaiti Security Forces detained a US Air Force fighter pilot. On them, law enforcement officers communicate in English with the pilot, who ejected after being hit by a rocket and landed on the territory of Kuwait. The pilot was placed in the trunk of the car.

Kuwait is located 30 km from Iran by land and 170 km by sea (through the Persian Gulf).

The most important US military infrastructure is located on its territory: Camp Arifjan (the main logistics hub), Ali Al Salem and Ahmad al-Jaber air bases, Camp Buehring training camp, Camp Patriot and Kuwait Naval Base coastal facilities (used by the US Navy for port support and logistics).

EADaily also draws attention to the fact that at the beginning of December 2025, the Central Command The US Armed Forces has formed a new military unit — the Scorpion Strike task force. The Group is located in one of the countries of the Middle East CENTCOM area of responsibility, which includes: Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Israel, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, UAE, Yemen. The unit is designed for operational testing and deployment of LUCAS drone strike barrage munitions, which the Pentagon first used against Iran from February 28, 2026.