Mastodawn

Jason Lefkowitz

Those three US Air Force F-15Es that got shot down were reportedly all shot down by a single Kuwaiti F/A-18, which if true means there is a pilot somewhere in Kuwait who simultaneously wrecked his career and got 60% of the way towards becoming a fighter ace

https://www.twz.com/news-features/kuwaiti-f-a-18-hornet-responsible-for-shooting-down-three-usaf-f-15e-strike-eagles-report

Kuwaiti F/A-18 Hornet Responsible For Shooting Down Three USAF F-15E Strike Eagles: Report

The bizarre friendly fire incident resulted in the total loss of all three Strike Eagles, but their crews survived.

The War Zone

Jason Lefkowitz Mar 4

Wonder what the ground crew stencils on the side of your plane after you shoot down three friendlies. A dunce cap, maybe

AN/CRM-114 Mar 4

@jalefkowit three Decepticon logos

GhostOnTheHalfShell Mar 4

I think a target might be an order.

FeloniousPunk Mar 4

@jalefkowit
Three Golden Arches.

edit: Or 3 Cheeseburgers if they're fans of the Don.

John Maxwell Mar 4

@jalefkowit Three dunce caps, clearly.

Jef Poskanzer Mar 4

@jalefkowit I bet John McCain knew.

Butch Henderson

@jalefkowit maybe he had just watched the latest Top Gun movie and thought 3 Iranian Tom Cruise like pilots had hijacked the F-15's? He didn't want to be the pilot shot down in the newer fighter plane 🤔

Bizarre that they didn't have some type of IFF for allies.

aburka 🫣Mar 4

@jalefkowit not to be that guy but there's gotta be more going on than we know about this

Maho 🦝🍻Mar 4

@jalefkowit he bet in polymarket that 3 US planes would be shot down in the first 24hrs and got rich.

AN/CRM-114 Mar 4

@jalefkowit on the bright side, that dude is never gonna have to pay for a drink in San Diego. I can hear GySgt Hartman:

“February 2026. One Hornet driver took down three Strike Eagles. He was trained by a Marine aviator. Rah.”

@jalefkowit Wrecked his career in Kuwaiti air defense, perhaps.
I hear Iran is going to be hiring soon, though.

J.
F.
C.

tuban_muzuru Mar 4

I smell BS. Here's my guess and it's a bit embarrassing for USAF, these F-15s were tasked with shooting down Shahid drones. F-15 bang-bang is a 20mm M61 Vulcan rotary cannon, it would shred the drone and detonate the explosive.

Best to keep your distance from that explosion.

The Lack Thereof

@tuban_muzuru
All the planespotters and other military nerds watching the conflict have been confirming it since basically before the USAF acknowledged the downing.

@lackthereof @tuban_muzuru I am not an expert in modern air combat systems, but AFAIK FoF (Friend or Foe) systems existed already 30 years ago and had a history then, so how does that fit in?

tuban_muzuru Mar 4

@Illuminatus @lackthereof

Yeah, I could be wrong here - and probably am.

@tuban_muzuru @lackthereof Nah, your hypothesis seems more reasonable than the nothingsandwich that a Kuwaiti F-18 wasn't able to discriminate allied F-15s, unless (but why?) they had the FoF transponders off.

The Lack Thereof

@Illuminatus @tuban_muzuru
Given the amount of dumb shit going on, it would not surprise me if they had the transponders off and forgot to tell Kuwait about it.

I honestly can't come up with any explanation for this that doesn't require the assumption that someone involved did something dumb as hell. It's all equally unbelievable to me.

@lackthereof Certainly, the moment Whiskey Pete became secretary of whatever, professionality of the armed forces didn't just take a backseat, it directly decided to open the car door, take its chances and throw itself off. @tuban_muzuru

tuban_muzuru Mar 4

We need a Shahid killer.

Dr. ir. Brian R. Pauw Mar 4

@tuban_muzuru @jalefkowit shooting an explosive usually does not detonate it.

tuban_muzuru Mar 4

@doc @jalefkowit

I was an artillery forward observer, forgive me if I insist

it depends on the explosive, and under the right conditions, yes it absolutely can detonate.

Dr. ir. Brian R. Pauw Mar 4

@tuban_muzuru @jalefkowit fair enough, practical experience beats theoretical knowledge 😉

TheNovemberFella ✊🏳️‍🌈 🇺🇦☸️🛰️🚀Mar 4

@jalefkowit 😂 You just can't make this shit up

Eric Brombaugh Mar 4

@jalefkowit Having been the victim of friendly fire in a paintball game once, I'd note that it's a lot easier to score points off the folks who are on your own team.

Montessori Space Programme 🛸Mar 4

@jalefkowit Wouldn't that also make it the first ever times that an F-15 was shot down by another aircraft?

Large Format Projectionist Mar 4

@anarchiv @jalefkowit

I believe it does. and if it was 1:3, holy shit, that is an absolute end to the mighty F-15's reputation.

The Orange Theme Mar 4

@jalefkowit I love this instead of healthcare.

@theorangetheme @jalefkowit Tbf doctors kill a lot of people too ;)

The Orange Theme Mar 4

@seb321 @jalefkowit

@theorangetheme @seb321 @jalefkowit Art imitates life in the game Obenseuer https://stalburg.net/Skeida_Pharmacy#/media/File%3ASkeida_Pharmacy_exterior.jpg

Skeida Pharmacy - Stalburg Wiki

Hire the guy!

MegatronicThronBanks Mar 4

@jalefkowit How tf does an 18 shoot down a 15

Nathan Salwen Mar 4

@jalefkowit Or it wasn't an accident.

Fazal Majid Mar 4

@jalefkowit Or the Kuwaiti pilot totally accidentally on purpose shot therm down.

Why do the Kuwaitis even have F/A-18, those are carrier aircraft and AFAIK Kuwait doesn't have a carrier.

Anthony David Mar 4

@fazalmajid @jalefkowit

Australian fighter jets, before the JSF, are F/A 18s. Not a carrier plane here.

Jason Lefkowitz Mar 4

@adavid @fazalmajid The F/A-18 is carrier capable, but lots of nations have operated it as a ground-based aircraft. The U.S. Marine Corps operates it from ground bases as well.

uli hertlein 🇪🇺🇺🇦Mar 5

@jalefkowit @adavid @fazalmajid And Canada, Finland, Spain, Switzerland off the top of my head.

CounterPillow Mar 4

@fazalmajid I didn't know Switzerland, a landlocked country, has a carrier. Damn, guess they are not strictly carrier aircraft! Something even a millisecond of research would've told you.

Fazal Majid Mar 4

@CounterPillow The short takeoff distance of the Hornet would be a big plus in a mountainous country like Switzerland with a dispersal doctrine. Kuwait is flat and does not lack for runway space, nor is there anywhere to hide. The F/A-18 is also multirole, but the unnecessary (for Kuwait) carrier requirements impose constraints like range and cost compared to a terrestrial fighter like the F-16.

Steinar Bang Mar 4

Heard it was Surface to Air rockets?

Either Patriot or NASAMS?

@jalefkowit We've got Whiskey Pete in charge and you think this was Kuwait's mistake? I'm betting there was some poor communication along the line and those F-15's were in the wrong place at the wrong time. I'm glad the crews were okay.

#TEAM WORK MAKES THE DREAM WORK

HIGH FIVES, ALL AROUND!

@jalefkowit That one Kuwaiti hornet is probably stronger than the whole Iranian air force as of now so...

Paco Hope Mar 5

@jalefkowit Now do it for airforce one and airforce two…