Illustrative image. (Tasnim News Agency)
The F-15E Strike Eagle fighter that was shot down over southwestern Iran last month and set off a dangerous rescue mission was probably struck by a Chinese-made man-portable air defense system, NBC News reported on May 30, citing three sources with knowledge of the matter.
The sources and a U.S. official also revealed to the news channel that China may have provided the Islamic Republic with a long-range early-warning radar that spots stealth aircraft that are meant to evade detection.
U.S. officials are still investigating the circumstances surrounding the shootdown of the fighter jet, according to the sources.
The F-15E was downed over the province of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad in southwestern Iran. It was the first time in decades that a U.S. fighter jet was downed by enemy fire. At the time, Trump said that it was struck by a “shoulder-launched missile.”
The two-man crew of the F-15E jet safely ejected from the aircraft over Iran. The pilot was rescued within seven hours, but it took two days to locate and rescue the weapons systems officer, who hid in the foothills of the Zagros Mountains, according to the Pentagon.
Although successful, the rescue operation was costly. An A-10 Thunderbolt II attack jet providing air cover to U.S. operatives on the ground was shot down, and two UH-60 Black Hawk taking part were damaged midflight. In addition, two MC-130J Commando II special-mission aircraft and four MH-6 Little Bird helicopters were destroyed on the ground.
It’s not clear if the MANPADS that likely brought down the F-15 was delivered to Iran recently or if it was taken from stockpiles of weapons that were shipped to Iran years ago, the sources told NBC News.
Iran manufactures the Misagh-3, an Iranian copy of China’s QW-18. The advanced MANPADS, which is equipped with a dual-band passive infrared seeker, has an engagement range of five kilometers with a flight ceiling of up to four kilometers. It is very likely that it was the missile that brought down the F-15E.
In its report, the channel also identified the radar supplied by China as the YLC-8B, but stopped short from confirming that it was fielded during the war.
The radar, which has a range of 500 to 700 kilometers, is optimized for early warning detection of airborne targets and also has sufficient resolution to perform target tracking functions. It reportedly has the capability to track stealth aircraft because of its low, UHF-band operating frequency. It can also track small-radar-cross-section missiles at long range as well as ballistic missiles and other near-space objects.
Illustrative image.
The U.S. is aware of everything that China is doing to support Iran, according to the U.S. official who had knowledge of the discussions.
The official told NBC News that China supported Iran before the war and any assistance during the ongoing conflict has not made a difference on the battlefield.
“It was not significant support. There was no decisive operational impact to it,” the official added.
Meanwhile, the White House referred to the channel to comments President Donald Trump made in a Fox News interview, in which he said Xi had assured him that China would not provide military equipment to Iran, as well as to more recent remarks from last week, where he said: “President Xi has promised me that he’s not sending any weapons to Iran. That’s a beautiful promise. I take him at his word. I appreciated it.”
There have been many similar reports recently, with some even suggesting that China is still planning to ship weapons to Iran, even through third countries. At the same time, there has been little to no proof of the Islamic Republic receiving any new weapons from Beijing or any other side after the start of the war.
These reports are likely meant to pressure China over its relations with Iran, and even NBC News’ latest piece mentions that the Trump administration has purposely leaked information on weapons shipments to stop Beijing from supporting Tehran.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence
NOW hosted at southfront.press
Previously, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.org.
The .org domain name had been blocked by the US (NATO) (https://southfront.press/southfront-org-blocked-by-u-s-controlled-global-internet-supervisor/) globally, outlawed and without any explanation
Back before that, from 2013 to 2015, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.com
