‘Sending in Troops’: CNN Military Analyst Breaks Down Rescue Op For Downed Pilots In Iran

Retired U.S Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton joined CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Friday in the immediate aftermath of news breaking that the U.S. military is conducting a search and rescue operation in Iran for the crew of a downed fighter jet.

Leighton, a CNN military analyst, offered his take on what the rescue operation will look like just minutes before a U.S. official confirmed the news to Reuters.

Blitzer began the segment by asking, “Colonel, what do you make of Iran’s claims now of having shot down a U.S. fighter jet, a U.S. Air Force F-15?”

Leighton replied, “Absolutely, Wolf. Well, it looks like it’s real, unfortunately. And, you know, based on the pictures that we’ve seen so far, it is consistent with an F-15 — not an F-35, as the Iranians have said, but an F-15. So, one of the key things about this is the F-15 is not a stealth fighter.”

“It’s an older-generation aircraft. It is designed for multiple missions, but mainly air superiority-type missions. And it is vulnerable to the kind of anti-aircraft fire that the Iranians are capable of conducting. So, in conjunction with the reporting from the U.S. intelligence community that says that the Iranians still have major capabilities, this is one more piece of evidence that they have those capabilities, and it’s still dangerous for our pilots,” added Leighton.

Blitzer continued, “And especially if a pilot has ejected and they’re now on the ground somewhere in Iran right now — the U.S. would presumably be sending in troops to try to save those pilots.”

“Yes, exactly. Those are the search-and-rescue capabilities that the U.S. Air Force has. There are very capable elements from the 1st Special Operations Wing based out of Hurlburt Field, Florida. And what they can do is go in and try to rescue those pilots. And the key thing is there’s probably a two-man crew,” replied Leighton.

“On both the F-15 and the F-35?” Blitzer pressed.

Leighton replied, “Well, yes, that is correct. And when it comes to the F-15, one of them is a pilot and the other is an electronic warfare officer, but both of them need to be rescued at this point in time. There are some reports that an ejection seat has been found in Iran by the Iranians, so the crew is probably not far away. That puts them in a very vulnerable position if those reports are accurate.”

Watch the clip above via CNN.

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