US jet fighter downed over Kuwait 'was UK-based'

At least one of the US aircraft downed in an apparent friendly fire incident over Kuwait was from a UK airbase, evidence suggests.

Three American jets were accidentally shot down by Kuwaiti air defences on Sunday. All six aircrew ejected safely and were recovered.

Identifying markers on the suspected wreckage of one of the F-15E Eagles indicate it was from RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk.

The US Air Force (USAF) would not confirm the origin of these aircraft.

The BBC has examined two videos said to show the downed aircraft.

Their origin could not be determined but both depict the same wreckage and were shot at different times.

Analysis by BBC Verify indicated both were recent with no evidence of AI-manipulation.

We have not been able to precisely geolocate the area where the footage was shot to confirm it was in Kuwait, but visual evidence is consistent with the wreckage being of a Lakenheath-based jet.

In one of the videos, a prominent serial number can be seen in the remains of the aircraft's wheel housing.

It matches 91-0327 LN, the serial number of an F-15E Strike Eagle from the 492nd Squadron of the USAF's 48th Fighter Wing, which reportedly deployed to the Middle East from Suffolk last month.

German aviation journalist Dalibor Ankovic shared images he took of the F-15E taking part in Exercise Ocean Sky in the Canary Islands last November.

The 48th Fighter Wing also publicised its participation in this exercise.

The numbers and their placement on the wheel housing shown in Ankovic's pictures exactly match those in the video.

This proved the aircraft in the wreckage video and the one in his pictures were the same, he said.

A distinctive red marking seen on the inner wheel hubs matches officially released images of F-15s undergoing maintenance at RAF Lakenheath.

RAF Lakenheath directed all inquiries to US Central Command (Centcom), which would not be drawn on the units to which the aircrew belonged.

Centcom said that on 1 March, three US F-15E Strike Eagles flying in support of its operations over Iran, codenamed Operation Epic Fury, "went down over Kuwait due to an apparent friendly fire incident".

Its statement said: "During active combat – that included attacks from Iranian aircraft, ballistic missiles, and drones – the US Air Force fighter jets were mistakenly shot down by Kuwaiti air defences.

Kuwait had acknowledged this incident, it added.

The US military has not publicised which F-15E units have been deployed to the Middle East as part of Operation Epic Fury.

But open source and plane spotter reports indicate that as well as jets from Lakenheath, aircraft from the 4th Fighter Wing at Seymour-Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina, and the 366th Fighter Wing at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, have been sent.

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