Iran achieved what no air force had managed in 70 years!
And this fact is what «hurt» the American military most along with the prestige of invincibility they had cultivated for years.
It took place under the leadership of a president who complained about not being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize after promising to end every foolish war on the planet, Donald Trump, who not only failed to end any war, but opened one of the worst fronts in modern history.
In a dramatic turn of military events in the Middle East, Tehran delivered a historic and symbolic blow that overturns decades of military precedent: it achieved what no other air force on the planet had been able to accomplish in over 70 years by launching a direct attack against American ground forces using a fixed-wing combat aircraft.
The most striking and unexpected element of this airstrike is the fact that it was accomplished using American fighter jets, nearly five decades old, delivered to the country before the Islamic Revolution of 1979.
This is an unprecedented military achievement, as the last time ground forces of the United States of America sustained a strike from a hostile fighter aircraft was in 1953 during the Korean War, thus shattering a multi-decade unbroken air monopoly and causing a profound shock in the Pentagon.
US official admits the crushing humiliation of their forces
Commenting on the first successful strike by hostile fighters against American ground forces, retired US Air Force General Glen VanHerck stated that it is embarrassing for him as an airman to admit that this occurred.
Glen VanHerck noted that it was the first time in decades that American forces had been subjected to an air attack of this kind.
Glen VanHerck spoke during a panel on counter-drone defense at the annual Space and Missile Defense Symposium in Huntsville, Alabama on August 12.
He pointedly stated that it must be made clear that American forces took a severe beating from drones and other aerospace vehicles, including three F-5 aircraft that took off from Iran, flew at low altitude, and dropped bombs on an air base.
Chronicle of the airstrike on the strategic base in Kuwait
In June, multiple media reports claimed that Iranian F-5 fighters carried out a shallow incursion into Kuwait and dropped bombs on the American military base, which serves as a primary staging area for US military operations in West Asia.
The attack occurred on March 1, 2026, within 24 hours of the joint Israel and US strike on Iran on February 28.
NBC News was the first outlet to report this attack in an April dispatch citing anonymous American officials, although the US military did not officially confirm it.
Subsequently, in June, Iranian state media outlet Press TV broadcast an interview with three Iranian F-5 pilots who recounted the low-altitude bombing mission of March 1, 2026 against Camp Buehring in Kuwait.
The commander, whose identity remains concealed, stated that planning for the attack on Camp Buehring began as soon as they learned that the US and Israel had launched joint strikes against their country.
He stated that they immediately wanted to deliver an operational retaliation, adding that Camp Buehring is a highly strategic base with one of the highest troop concentrations and capacities.
At peak capacity, Camp Buehring can host up to 14,000 soldiers, although it remains unclear how many American service members were stationed there during the Iranian attack.
Suicide flight under radar and high-voltage cables
Iran purchased its first F-5 jets in the mid-1960s under the Shah, followed by large additional acquisitions of upgraded F-5E/F Tiger II aircraft in the early-to-mid 1970s, securing a total of over 300 aircraft of various F-5 variants prior to the 1979 revolution.
The commander noted that they planned to fly at extremely low altitude to evade radar detection.
He stated that they flew very low, in certain spots passing under high-voltage cables and below 50 feet.
This is an extraordinarily low altitude given that standard training altitude is around 500 feet, which is over 152 meters.
He added that they were practically skimming the ground and flying beneath power transmission lines.
Camp Buehring is equipped with multi-layered air defense systems, including Patriot missile batteries, multiple short-range systems, advanced radar coverage, and persistent regional surveillance networks.
All of these systems were placed on high alert after the US launched Operation Epic Fury on February 28, to which Iran responded with ballistic missile and drone strikes on American military bases across the entire West Asia zone.
Chaos at the base and friendly fire among American fighter jets
The commander also noted they were aware that the facility possessed multiple tiers of air defense systems.
Despite knowing that interception and surveillance stations were operational, they maintained strict radio silence, traversed the waters of neighboring countries, and flew so low that at one point they navigated between two ships.
Upon reaching the base, they conducted heavy bombing runs.
The pilots reported that the strikes induced chaos and confusion, likely because base personnel had not anticipated an incursion of Iranian combat aircraft into their airspace.
Amid the panic generated at the installation, three hostile F-15 aircraft were mistakenly engaged and destroyed simultaneously.
On March 1, 2026, CENTCOM acknowledged that three American F-15 fighters were downed in a suspected incident of friendly fire.
One of the pilots described seeing base forces launch missiles at targets in the sky during their turn.
The back-seat officer informed him that an explosion occurred mid-air with widespread confusion over where it originated.
American aircraft were scrambled in error, and the three American F-15 jets heading to counterattack toward Iran were misidentified as targets by Kuwaiti forces, who shot them down.
Following the completion of the bombardment, the Iranian fighters executed a diversionary maneuver that enabled them to exit Kuwaiti airspace and touch down at a pre-designated site in Iran. The pilots recalled that after the bombing they performed a deceptive maneuver and American forces were unable to track or intercept them.
Collapse of the myth of absolute American air supremacy
How Iran was able to penetrate Kuwait with nearly five-decade-old combat aircraft, bomb a major US military base protected by multi-tier air defenses, and subsequently escape unscathed constitutes a severe embarrassment for the US.
The last time US ground forces came under attack by enemy combat aircraft was in 1953 during the Korean War, and prior to that during World War II, most notably at Pearl Harbor.
On the night of April 15, 1953, two United States Army soldiers lost their lives on the small Korean island of Cho-do.
They died during the night inside their tent, victims of a North Korean air attack carried out by Po-2 biplanes.
The two men were stationed at a US Army anti-aircraft artillery battery protecting Cho-do and neighboring islands.
Charles Nicholls, a historian with Pacific Air Forces, stated that the deaths of those two soldiers in 1953 represent a tragic yet notable milestone in US military history, marking the last confirmed American ground personnel lost to hostile air attack.
John Q. Smith, director of the Air Force Historical Studies Office, confirmed that available records identify this as the final instance in which US ground forces suffered casualties from enemy aircraft.
Since 1953, American airmen continued to evolve and are credited with zero casualties among American ground troops from hostile air attack.
Brigadier General Patrick C. Malackowski stated in 2013 that air superiority was critical to bridging the vast distances of the Pacific.
During the Vietnam War, North Vietnamese MiG aircraft engaged primarily in dogfights over North Vietnam or near the border.
American bases in South Vietnam were frequently subjected to rocket, mortar, and commando attacks, but not to enemy combat aircraft strikes.
During the Gulf War in 1991, no Iraqi combat aircraft managed to bomb US ground forces.
Similarly, during the war in Afghanistan and the 2003 Iraq War, the US achieved air supremacy almost immediately.
Following the assassination of Iranian Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani in a US airstrike in Baghdad in 2020, Iran struck American bases across the Middle East with missiles, while Houthi fighters in Yemen have also attacked US forces with drones.
However, since the Korean War, this was the first time an enemy fighter managed to bomb US ground forces.
Iran not only shattered the proud seven-decade record of US air superiority, but the fact that Tehran achieved this feat with five-decade-old combat aircraft dealt a severe blow to American prestige.
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