US F-35 Fighter Jet Forced To Make Emergency Landing After Being Hit By Iranian Fire

Last Updated:March 20, 2026, 00:00 IST

An F-35 stealth fighter jet was forced to make an emergency landing at an air base after it was believed to have been struck in Iranian fire.

A US F-35 fighter jet made an emergency landing at an American air base in West Asia after it was struck by what is believed to be Iranian fire, according to several reports.

Captain Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson for US Central Command, said the fifth-generation stealth jet was “flying a combat mission over Iran" when it was forced to make an emergency landing. Hawkins said the aircraft landed safely and the incident is under investigation.

Two sources familiar with the matter told CNN that the aircraft was damaged by Iranian fire. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) later claimed to have damaged the F-35 fighter jet.

“The US military’s F-35 strategic fighter jet was hit and seriously damaged in the central Iranian sky at 2:50 a.m. today by the IRGC’s advanced modern aerospace defense system. The fate of this fighter jet is unknown and is under investigation, and there is a high probability that it crashed," the IRGC said in a statement.

News world US F-35 Fighter Jet Forced To Make Emergency Landing After Being Hit By Iranian Fire

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