this post was submitted on 07 Apr 2026
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Iran’s military may be badly damaged by the U.S. and Israel’s campaign. But that damage has exposed a more enduring threat: asymmetric warfare, in which individuals or small groups of militants can pose threats strategic to the American military.

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[–] ductTapedWindow@lemmy.zip 1 points 2 hours ago

The F-15E was hit by a TOR-M1 surface to air missile system when it gained altitude and broke radar horizon in order to drop its bunker buster on their target.

The A-10 was hit by a Chinese MANPADS clone (Russian man portable air defense system) it severely damaged the right engine but the pilot was able to fly for several minutes and ejected over land while the plane was scuttled in the southern Persian Gulf.

The HH-60 Pavehawk (Pedro 12) was hit by a ZU-23 Soviet era anti aircraft gun while flying overwatch for Pedro 11 who was loading the A-10 pilot. 2 F-35 stealth fighters flying at high altitude eliminated the ZU-23 once identified. Pedro 12 managed a controlled crash landing and all crew left in Pedro 11.

The picture shown is 2 C-130 transport aircraft and an AH-6 little bird wreckage. They were staged at an abandoned agricultural airstrip along with 3 other little birds when the C-130s became stuck in the terrain. The details on how they were scuttled are limited but it sounds like US air power eliminated the C-130s so they would not fall in enemy hands, the little bird may have been collateral damage from those strikes or intended.

All of these sites were under attack by IRGC ground forces. Multiple conveys were wiped out by the dozens of other aircraft that assisted. SEAL team 6 and Delta Force were in an hour long firefight on the ground at the rescue site for the weapons systems officer of the F-15E.

Multiple diversion rescue teams were sent to miss direct enemy forces with great success.

0 US casualties. A simple motto, no man left behind.

Hate politics all you want but do not hate on your military.

The United States has had the largest defense budget in the world since WWII. This is what our country does and we have unquestionably the most powerful military as a result.

[–] Danarchy@lemmy.nz 17 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

Who would win: the technological pinnacle of the military industrial complex

or

One whooshi boi

[–] Einskjaldi@lemmy.world 1 points 5 hours ago

For context in a real war the military would use almost 2000 planes and losing up to 200 or so would be expected losses. Except for the awacs, that's the biggest loss. And as always, it's doctrine that you would send in ground troops who are better at dealing with individuals.

[–] zr0@lemmy.dbzer0.com 21 points 13 hours ago (2 children)

Oh no, who would have thought asymmetric warfare is going to he an issue, after dozens of years of wars in the middle east and using Ukraine as playground.

[–] RanryuuRain@sh.itjust.works 2 points 7 hours ago

Presumably the generals the drunkard fired brought this up.

[–] Archer@lemmy.world 5 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

Yeah it’s not like we spent the last two decades fighting asymmetric wars… oh wait

[–] sylver_dragon@lemmy.world 3 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago)

Or two decades fighting an asymmetric war which President Bone Spurs personally managed to avoid.

[–] fiat_lux@lemmy.world 56 points 16 hours ago (2 children)

"...a more enduring threat: asymmetric warfare, in which individuals or small groups of militants can pose threats strategic to the American military."

You know what US military targets an Iranian "shoulder-fired missile" can't hit? The ones in the US. The only place the US military should be. Invading forces aren't entitled to an easy time stealing another country's resources.

The NBC can fuck right off with this war crime apologia masquerading as a news article containing a mild warning. It's not a Saving Private Ryan reboot, it's modern exploitation colonialism.

[–] Mihies@programming.dev 18 points 16 hours ago

It should be "We eliminated most of their elementary and other schools and universities complete with children inside", right

[–] teyrnon@sh.itjust.works 5 points 14 hours ago

That NBC should fuck right off goes without saying at this point but I don't disagree.

[–] Akh@lemmy.world 39 points 17 hours ago

What kind of propaganda bullshit is this… it starts with Iran’s military has been badly damaged by the US and Israel. Not really, they have been targeting civilians not Iran’s military

[–] yesman@lemmy.world 7 points 13 hours ago (2 children)

Killing an F15 with a manpad is pretty lucky. F15s can make themselves immune simply by fling higher and faster. The missiles that can climb up there are as big as a telephone pole.

However aircraft like the A10 and all helicopters are vulnerable to this threat. And since the missiles are small, cheap, and easy to conceal, there is no way to counter this threat without physically controlling the territory. Ask Russia.

[–] MartianHills@lemmy.world 2 points 2 hours ago

I was having trouble understanding how Iran pulled this off, until I read that Russia sold them an advanced manpad called a "9K333 Verba" last December. Uses 3 different sensors to distinguish a target from countermeasures and is effective up to 15,000 feet. Not ideal to be flying low in a country with a bunch of those wandering around.

[–] GuyIncognito@lemmy.ca 13 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

Not necessarily lucky. There are basically only two reasons why an F-15 would be flying that low over Iran:

  • The threat of high level AD is too high to risk flying high, forcing the F-15 to operate below the radar horizon
  • Stockpiles of precision guided bombs are low enough that they have to use dumb bombs, thus needing to fly low to be accurate.

I think the former is more likely than the latter, though in the best case scenario it's a mix of both. In either case, it's less luck than the US hitting a limiting factor in its operations and being forced into a position where MANPADS are a threat to fighters

[–] yesman@lemmy.world 4 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

They're flying B52s over Iran now.

Trump's rhetoric can't stop SAMs so if Iran still has that capability I'd be curious why they're not using it. Remember it's still the US military, and squashing air defenses is like their whole deal.

[–] GuyIncognito@lemmy.ca 4 points 12 hours ago

Over, or near? If over what part of Iran? So far, as far as I'm aware, they've been using the B-52s with standoff munitions. Maybe they're using them on Kharg island, but that's an island off the coast. The air defences are going to get thicker when they get further into the country.

[–] frongt@lemmy.zip 17 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

Trump is really bringing back the 1980s.

[–] reluctant_squidd@lemmy.ca 19 points 17 hours ago

I disagree. Not in the sense that you are wrong. The similarities to previous grave mistakes is often stunning.

My own personal thoughts are that even though the similarities are there to other historical blunders, the sheer scale and depth of pure stupidity and gross incompetence on full display right now for all the world to see is so mind numbingly unprecedented on so many levels that it shouldn’t be referred to as anything other than a brand new low.

It’s like referring to anything else somehow makes it seem less bad. Even though past conflicts were devastating.

[–] lechekaflan@lemmy.world 3 points 13 hours ago

Anyhow, what an expensive rescue mission in that they had to destroy millions of dollars' worth of aircraft.