Iran - Israel/US War: Israel-US declare war on Iran, Iran responds

[Persian Gulf]

The U.S. set up a forward airbase here, deep in central Iran! Right next to Esfahan.

This is much, much worse than I thought.

 

[PakSword]

Off topic:

That's how Pakistanis felt after Osama Bin Laden raid, which on its own is unbelievable too without any insider help.

One difference:

Pakistan says it didn't know about the operation, so there was no fight between the two forces.

 

[Beijingwalker]

U.S. military aircraft losses in Iran war​

Source: Xinhua

2026-04-05 16:31:15

An extensive array of U.S. military aircraft, ranging from fighters, helicopters to unmanned systems, have been destroyed or damaged during the "Operation Epic Fury", multiple sources tracking the war have shown.

"Total losses are estimated to exceed $2 billion, with replacement costs potentially even higher," said Egypt's Intel Observer, an open-source intelligence account active on X.

An online update from the Pentagon indicated that 13 U.S. troops have been killed and 365 others wounded in the war as of April 3.

Produced by Xinhua Global Service■

Poster: U.S. military aircraft losses in Iran war

Poster: U.S. military aircraft losses in Iran war-

english.news.cn

 

[UberShock]

You have stupid and lousy military leaders since they couldn't produce manpads in large quantities and distribute throughout the country by mobile groups

 

[Hayabusa]

Look at that mess to rescue two POW.

The American motto of "no man left behind" has resulted in an absolute mess here. Iran doesn't need to sweat the rescue here. The sheer chaos of it is a psychological win. While it is a good PR stunt, it is a huge blow that's going to live rent free in their planner head and force them to rethink before going into Iran's territory.

Most likely they will further deplete their stand off weapons even more now.

 

[Immortals]

I am sure they would trade 100 empty c-130s for 2 POWs

This just shows that the U.S. has air superiority deep in Iran, the Iranian ground forces don’t exist, and we have very few MANPADs

200KM in Zargos mountains is not deep inside Iran. By such logic if Canada had a fighter jet get shot down 500KM inside Montana it would be “deep inside” the US.

The pilot had a satellite communication device and was in active communication with his rescue team. He had a distress beacon. He hid in a crevice in the mountains. The CIA activated its assets. Military satellites were overhead. Dozens of aircraft using thermal imaging looking for him. And bombing any Iranian convoy that got within 3 KM.

The hell you expect to happen? You act like the pilot fell in Tehran and hid inside a dumpster before escaping inside of an ice cream truck.

Iran had a 3-4 hour window after the crash to find a needle in a haystack before U.S. chain of command could mobilize and put a plan together. Intial pics of the crash was reported at 9:30 AM local time. 6 hours later they rescued the first pilot.

That’s impossible for Iran to react and find a person in that terrain before the Americans.

 

[ShapurII]

You are unable to assess the optics.

1 - Iran couldn't stop them from evacuating the pilot deep inside the country fighting against 200+ enemy soldiers.

2 - The US cares about its every single soldier and is ready to lose expensive equipment.

The American public will go drunk tonight. This operation will improve Trump's approval rating.

In a war, majorly of the times, the optics are equally important when evaluated against the physical wins.

3- Not even a single US soldier was killed in the rescue operation.

 

[Psyko70]

There was fob base inside iran. Very shocking.

 

[Persian Gulf]

200KM in Zargos mountains is not deep inside Iran. By such logic if Canada had a fighter jet get shot down 500KM inside Montana it would be “deep inside” the US.

The pilot had a satellite communication device and was in active communication with his rescue team. He had a distress beacon. He hid in a crevice in the mountains. The CIA activated its assets. Military satellites were overhead. Dozens of aircraft using thermal imaging looking for him. And bombing any Iranian convoy that got within 3 KM.

The hell you expect to happen? You act like the pilot fell in Tehran and hid inside a dumpster before escaping inside of an ice cream truck.

Iran had a 3-4 hour window after the crash to find a needle in a haystack before U.S. chain of command could mobilize and put a plan together. Intial pics of the crash was reported at 9:30 AM local time. 6 hours later they rescued the first pilot.

That’s impossible for Iran to react and find a person in that terrain before the Americans.

The U.S. set up a forward air base 400km into Iran, just south of Esfahan.

They landed several helicopters and large transport planes in this base, without being detected.

Even if we forget the pilots, this is bad news.

 

[Kharral]

You have to hand it, whatever the US admin does strategically put aside, the US military itself and US SOCOM in particular does have capabilities few, if any in the world have. Impressive op no matter which side you are on.

That “TACTICAL” excellence is due to Trillions upon Trillions of dollars & resources.

“Tactics” can win you battles but winning a war is an altogether different matter.

 

[Yasser76]

U.S. military aircraft losses in Iran war​

Source: Xinhua

2026-04-05 16:31:15

An extensive array of U.S. military aircraft, ranging from fighters, helicopters to unmanned systems, have been destroyed or damaged during the "Operation Epic Fury", multiple sources tracking the war have shown.

"Total losses are estimated to exceed $2 billion, with replacement costs potentially even higher," said Egypt's Intel Observer, an open-source intelligence account active on X.

An online update from the Pentagon indicated that 13 U.S. troops have been killed and 365 others wounded in the war as of April 3.

Produced by Xinhua Global Service■

Poster: U.S. military aircraft losses in Iran war

Poster: U.S. military aircraft losses in Iran war-

english.news.cn

Now add two SF C-130s and a MH-6. The weekly rate of US losses are becoming unsustainable, even for US.

 

[Musings]

So why did the U.S have to blow up two of their own planes in the alleged rescue mission???

Because they wanted to emulate black hawk down bro. They walk on water bro

 

[Yasser76]

3- Not even a single US soldier was killed in the rescue operation.

Lets wait, the disadvantge we have right now is US narratives on social media are dominating the information flow, as we have seen, hours or days later the story changes

 

[PakSword]

3- Not even a single US soldier was killed in the rescue operation.

That's still too early to claim. But if that's the case, forget about securing Kharg island which is next to a vast land (the entire Arabian Peninsula) from where they will launch their operations.

 

[kobra]

C130 got stuck may due to hard landing, They were unable to take off. So, They got fragged along with mh-6. Its most likely these were destroyed by USA before leaving the zone.

Since all the destroyed parts are located in close proximity it was indeed fragged or blown up by C4.

If It was shoot down all fried parts would have scattered and not all of the parts had burn mark. Like F15 tail indeed it wasn't a shoot down.

The planes were blown up exactly where they landed. USA might have injury and causalities but they are successful on their mission, even its all about a dead body.

IRGC is weak. So does Iran army and other units.

If USA was able to do that, They can easily setup several bases with 20K army. That would be enough to take over significant part of Iran.

Iran wasn't fully prepared as they don't have enough quality SAM in numbers and ability to control its sky.

boots on the ground wont be a good news for Iran.

Haha and iran is obilerated again 38th time now