There is no clear explainaton , Any news related to US jets gets immediately deleted .
shamantr on
Is this like once they figure out how to detect it subsequent detections become easier or is it some thing like the brute force guessed an encryption key and now they just rotate the key?
RoozGol on
ChatGTP Pro.
FearlessFrank99 on
It’s not even clear that this event actually happened. Iran is known to fake videos like this in the past. All we know for sure was an f-35 had to make an emergency landing. It’s entirely possible Iran faked the video to capitalize on that news to make it more believable. Though is also entirely possible that the video is legit. Neither of the governments involved are exactly known for telling the truth, so it’s hard to say.
Dragoeth1 on
Writer of the article has it wrong and for some reason makes zero mention of it, but speculation is that a Majid short range defense system was used. It uses electric optical guidance and AD-08 missiles with infrared proximity thus overcoming the f-35s stealth. The Majid doesn’t use radiation radar so that its harder to pin point. Its a new system, and it’s limitation is short range, thus why it appears to be almost beneath the f35 it hit. It has had success in shooting down several drones already.
Classic93 on
Experts, military analysts, OSINT accounts, fact-checkers, and aviation specialists largely view the viral thermal/FLIR-style video (released by IRGC-linked sources around March 19, 2026) purporting to show an Iranian missile hitting a US F-35 over Iran as fake, manipulated, simulated, or outright propaganda — not genuine combat footage.
Visual and technical inconsistencies — Real IR/FLIR targeting footage of jets (especially F-35s) shows uneven heat signatures: hot engines/exhaust plumes dominate, while the airframe stays cooler with distinct patterns from surfaces/sensors. This video’s uniform bright outline (almost cartoonish) matches simulation artifacts from games like DCS World or Arma 3, not real sensors. No grain, thermal blooming, or camera shake typical of actual IR footage.
Unrealistic physics and reaction – A center-mass SAM hit on a modern fighter should trigger immediate countermeasures (flares/chaff – F-35 has advanced 360° AN/AAQ-37 DAS and dispensers), loss of control, breakup, debris trail, or rapid descent. Here, the jet flies straight/level post-“impact” with no distress — impossible for a serious hit. Analysts note this echoes past debunked claims (e.g., Houthi/Iranian videos of “downed” drones/jets).
Incilius_alvarius on
Stealth doesn’t matter when it comes to infrared seeking missiles. Jet engines are hot, there’s no way around that. Given the aircraft was not completely destroyed, the missile was relatively small compared to something like an SA-2, which is the size of a telephone pole.
navinjohnsonn on
The fact it managed to crash land is insane.
FuckHarambe2016 on
A few years ago, an F35 went down in the Carolinas due to some sort of mechanical failure that forced the pilot to eject. It took the US government a few weeks until they found the wreckage of the F35, in our own country.
The odds that Iran of all countries managed to design and produce an air defense weapon that is capable of not only detecting, but shooting at an F35, an aircraft with the same radar signature of a gold ball, is near non-existent.
If they did somehow manage to hit one, it was pure dumb luck.
Key-Monk6159 on
Video would look more legit if it showed it landing on a burning carrier.
There’s a lot of misconceptions about stealth and the F-35 and Iranian air defense that’s helpful to know, and a lot of good analysis for what this all could mean.
Most importantly, we don’t yet know if any of this is real. All we know is USCENTCOM reported an F-35 had to make an emergency landing and the pilot was stable, and Iranian state media claims they have a video of them targeting an F-35. It could’ve been an IRST based missile, it could’ve not happened at all the way Iran claims.
Iranian state media is notoriously unreliable and makes stuff up all the time (remember the downed F-35I? or the captured delta force operators) and throws out deepfake videos all the time.
gulz26 on
the hypocrisy is unbelievable. The EU and US have been funding Ukraine the entire war. Of course Russia would help Iran. There is no moral high ground. Russia is bad the West is bad. I feel bad for Ukriane and the civilians in Iran.
QuicksandHUM on
IRST systems are the new way to track stealth objects. The latest stealth efforts are in IR reduction. They have been trying out new coatings and skins and even the new B-21 seems designed to reduce its IR signature. The F-35s will have to adjust to the new reality.
cosmicrae on
Does anyone know if this was a A, B or C variant ?
justinsst on
Lmao people think that video is real lol. Not saying it wasn’t hit but the jet would not be glowing so uniformly on FLIR.
farsh_bjj on
I watched a video that the system that hit the f35 was home grown and created by a university student using IR and seeking the heat signature from the jet rather than the plane.
LeftLane4PassingOnly on
OK, so clearly the F-35 is no longer a threat. Everyone can come out from hiding now. No need to worry.
Lypanarii on
Everyone blames Russia, but omits China in this region. I assume Russia may be helping Iranians because of US military help Ukrainian troops with satellite info, targets on Russia territory etc. it’s a game in both gates.
But I don’t like the war from any side.
NYerstuckinBoston on
General Patton was right about Russia.
haixin on
Maybe as part of the top secret documents found in Mar-A-Lago during the raid showed that trump shred secrets such as those of the F35 and gave Pootin an ability to target them.
I guess we will no longer ever know.
Vive Le Revolutione!!!
poskulis on
Everyone talking about IR missiles being hard to counter but there’s a simpler term – heat seeking missiles. IR signature = heat. Obviously you have to detect a lock – on (which isn’t new or hard) but countermeasures are as basic as they come – flares.
phatpham1803 on
hopefully Iran can bring down at least 1 to humiliate Trump and Hegseth
right_closed_traffic on
This looks wildly fake, how are we not challenging this
throwawayhyperbeam on
It’s okay, we have a special relationship with Russia
29 Comments
Did the pilot eject
There is no clear explainaton , Any news related to US jets gets immediately deleted .
Is this like once they figure out how to detect it subsequent detections become easier or is it some thing like the brute force guessed an encryption key and now they just rotate the key?
ChatGTP Pro.
It’s not even clear that this event actually happened. Iran is known to fake videos like this in the past. All we know for sure was an f-35 had to make an emergency landing. It’s entirely possible Iran faked the video to capitalize on that news to make it more believable. Though is also entirely possible that the video is legit. Neither of the governments involved are exactly known for telling the truth, so it’s hard to say.
Writer of the article has it wrong and for some reason makes zero mention of it, but speculation is that a Majid short range defense system was used. It uses electric optical guidance and AD-08 missiles with infrared proximity thus overcoming the f-35s stealth. The Majid doesn’t use radiation radar so that its harder to pin point. Its a new system, and it’s limitation is short range, thus why it appears to be almost beneath the f35 it hit. It has had success in shooting down several drones already.
Experts, military analysts, OSINT accounts, fact-checkers, and aviation specialists largely view the viral thermal/FLIR-style video (released by IRGC-linked sources around March 19, 2026) purporting to show an Iranian missile hitting a US F-35 over Iran as fake, manipulated, simulated, or outright propaganda — not genuine combat footage.
Visual and technical inconsistencies — Real IR/FLIR targeting footage of jets (especially F-35s) shows uneven heat signatures: hot engines/exhaust plumes dominate, while the airframe stays cooler with distinct patterns from surfaces/sensors. This video’s uniform bright outline (almost cartoonish) matches simulation artifacts from games like DCS World or Arma 3, not real sensors. No grain, thermal blooming, or camera shake typical of actual IR footage.
Unrealistic physics and reaction – A center-mass SAM hit on a modern fighter should trigger immediate countermeasures (flares/chaff – F-35 has advanced 360° AN/AAQ-37 DAS and dispensers), loss of control, breakup, debris trail, or rapid descent. Here, the jet flies straight/level post-“impact” with no distress — impossible for a serious hit. Analysts note this echoes past debunked claims (e.g., Houthi/Iranian videos of “downed” drones/jets).
Stealth doesn’t matter when it comes to infrared seeking missiles. Jet engines are hot, there’s no way around that. Given the aircraft was not completely destroyed, the missile was relatively small compared to something like an SA-2, which is the size of a telephone pole.
The fact it managed to crash land is insane.
A few years ago, an F35 went down in the Carolinas due to some sort of mechanical failure that forced the pilot to eject. It took the US government a few weeks until they found the wreckage of the F35, in our own country.
The odds that Iran of all countries managed to design and produce an air defense weapon that is capable of not only detecting, but shooting at an F35, an aircraft with the same radar signature of a gold ball, is near non-existent.
If they did somehow manage to hit one, it was pure dumb luck.
Video would look more legit if it showed it landing on a burning carrier.
Alex Hollings from Sandboxx has a good [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEA-vXR3WgI) about this everyone should watch.
There’s a lot of misconceptions about stealth and the F-35 and Iranian air defense that’s helpful to know, and a lot of good analysis for what this all could mean.
Most importantly, we don’t yet know if any of this is real. All we know is USCENTCOM reported an F-35 had to make an emergency landing and the pilot was stable, and Iranian state media claims they have a video of them targeting an F-35. It could’ve been an IRST based missile, it could’ve not happened at all the way Iran claims.
Iranian state media is notoriously unreliable and makes stuff up all the time (remember the downed F-35I? or the captured delta force operators) and throws out deepfake videos all the time.
the hypocrisy is unbelievable. The EU and US have been funding Ukraine the entire war. Of course Russia would help Iran. There is no moral high ground. Russia is bad the West is bad. I feel bad for Ukriane and the civilians in Iran.
IRST systems are the new way to track stealth objects. The latest stealth efforts are in IR reduction. They have been trying out new coatings and skins and even the new B-21 seems designed to reduce its IR signature. The F-35s will have to adjust to the new reality.
Does anyone know if this was a A, B or C variant ?
Lmao people think that video is real lol. Not saying it wasn’t hit but the jet would not be glowing so uniformly on FLIR.
I watched a video that the system that hit the f35 was home grown and created by a university student using IR and seeking the heat signature from the jet rather than the plane.
OK, so clearly the F-35 is no longer a threat. Everyone can come out from hiding now. No need to worry.
Everyone blames Russia, but omits China in this region. I assume Russia may be helping Iranians because of US military help Ukrainian troops with satellite info, targets on Russia territory etc. it’s a game in both gates.
But I don’t like the war from any side.
General Patton was right about Russia.
Maybe as part of the top secret documents found in Mar-A-Lago during the raid showed that trump shred secrets such as those of the F35 and gave Pootin an ability to target them.
I guess we will no longer ever know.
Vive Le Revolutione!!!
Everyone talking about IR missiles being hard to counter but there’s a simpler term – heat seeking missiles. IR signature = heat. Obviously you have to detect a lock – on (which isn’t new or hard) but countermeasures are as basic as they come – flares.
hopefully Iran can bring down at least 1 to humiliate Trump and Hegseth
This looks wildly fake, how are we not challenging this
It’s okay, we have a special relationship with Russia
Ahhhh [defence-ua.com](http://defence-ua.com) a truely impartial source lol
They’d blame Russia for a tree falling over in the forest
So 1 trillion dollar military is just crap? An empty husk?
Makes the big assumption that the IRGC wouldn’t claim a regular military success as their own
> f35 flies low
> emits heat from engines
> & then ir based tracking hits the plane
the media gotta stop believing stealth means invisibility