'Air Fleet' Successfully Rescues Downed US Pilots in Iran; 176 Aircraft Deployed on 7 Routes for Single Objective

US news website Axios reported that Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine described the operation as an 'air fleet' at the White House today, successfully completing two 'extremely dangerous' evacuation missions, safely extracting the pilot and weapons systems officer of an F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet from Iran. The two were identified by their call signs Dude 44A and Dude 44B; the deployed military aircraft included bombers, fighter jets, aerial refueling aircraft, helicopters, and unmanned systems. Caine specifically mentioned the A-10 Warthog attack aircraft, HC-130 Combat King II search and rescue aircraft, and HH-60 Jolly Green II helicopters. He also hinted at the deployment of remotely piloted drones and tactical-level drones. Caine stated, 'The courage displayed by the pilot and weapons systems officer while isolated behind enemy lines cannot be overstated.' President Trump pointed out that the operation to rescue the weapons systems officer alone involved 155 military aircraft. He emphasized that many maneuvers during the operation were intended to confuse and mislead Iranian forces who were also searching for the target. The operation involved working at seven locations, but only one was the actual evacuation route. Trump said, 'Iran would think, wait, there's a group of forces here, and there's another one there. The US military then entered the actual target area, engaged the enemy, successfully rescued the trapped officers, eliminated all threats, and then left Iranian territory.' Trump stated that this was the first time a US manned military aircraft was shot down by an 'enemy' during 'Operation Epic Fury.' He said that Iran 'happened' to hit the fighter jet, 'and in the end, you get lucky, and so do we.' The US had previously lost three F-15E fighter jets due to an accidental hit by a Kuwaiti F/A-18 Hornet. The US also lost over a dozen MQ-9 Reaper unmanned reconnaissance aircraft and an E-3 Sentry airborne early warning aircraft when a base in Saudi Arabia was attacked by Iran, and a KC-135 Stratotanker crashed in Iraq. (Compiled by Ho Hung-ju) 1150407