Iran Claims Downing of Advanced US F-35 Stealth Fighter Using Indigenous Air Defense System

Tehran. Iran has claimed to have shot down the US F-35 fighter jet, considered the world's most advanced and stealthy. According to Iranian media outlet Press TV, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) downed the aircraft using its domestically produced Majid air defense system.

If this claim proves true, Iran would be the first country in the world to successfully take down the US's most powerful F-35 aircraft in a combat scenario. The F-35, considered a primary symbol of American military power for the past two decades, is designed to evade detection by any of the world's powerful radar systems.

However, Iran claims to have discovered a major vulnerability in this aircraft. According to Iran, while the F-35 is capable of evading radar, it cannot completely conceal the excessive heat (infrared radiation) emitted by its engine.

Iran's Majid defense system tracked and targeted the aircraft based on this heat, or infrared technology, instead of radar. US news agency CNN also reported, citing sources, that an F-35 aircraft had to make an emergency landing in the Middle East due to an Iranian attack.

According to Iranian media, the Majid short-range air defense system downed the F-35 by firing only a single missile. Since this system does not rely on radar, the sensors and warning systems installed on the F-35 failed to receive any prior indication of the threat.

Normally, the electronic systems on the F-35 have the capability to jam enemy radar signals, but all these mechanisms proved ineffective against Iran's infrared technology. The Majid system, first unveiled in 2021, can accurately target low-flying objects at distances ranging from 700 meters to 6 kilometers.

Behind this success, it has been revealed that Iran gave a major strategic deception to the US and Israel. According to Iranian claims, when the US and Israel launched an attack on February 28, Iran shut down its real radar systems and hid them in safe locations.

Instead, fake radar structures built at a cost of $10,000 were put in place, which continued to emit signals just like the real radars. After US and Israeli drones destroyed these fake structures, they were misled into believing that Iran's air defense system had been neutralized.

Due to this deception, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth even claimed on the morning of March 19 that Iran's air defense had been completely destroyed. However, after the US confidently sent its most advanced aircraft, the F-35, deep into Iranian territory, Iran suddenly activated its real radars, which had been shut down for ten days, and defense systems like Majid.

The 'stealth' US aircraft ultimately crashed after falling into the trap of the Iranian defense system, which was already prepared.