US weapons systems officer talks about rescue after shooting down in Iran

The crew member of a fighter jet who was rescued by US search teams in Iran in the spring has now spoken in detail and publicly about the incident and the risky rescue operation for the first time. In an interview with CBS's "60 Minutes" format, the weapons systems officer with the code name "Bravo" spoke about his free fall after the shoot-down: "When I looked up and didn't see a parachute, that was the most terrible thing I've ever seen."

“Bravo” – whose real name is not given for safety reasons – broke his spine, an arm and a shoulder in the violent impact. He then hid, climbed a mountain and waited in a crevice, with only a pistol, a communication device and a tracking device with him, as CNN reports. The soldier also had almost no food or water, according to CBS. Help only arrived after two days. Hundreds of US military and intelligence personnel were involved in the rescue operation. When “Bravo” saw his rescuers on the mountain ridge, it was “one of the greatest moments” of his life.

"This day was just another day in the war for us - until the moment we were hit by an Iranian weapon," Bravo continued. According to the commander of the US Central Command in the region that day, the pair's mission was to carry out an attack on Iranian industrial facilities that were linked to the Iranian drone and missile program. The rescue was “a race against time,” also because the soldiers were the focus of Iranian troops.

The pilot of the downed F-15E was rescued shortly after the crash. He is said to have spoken to intelligence officials afterwards, CNN previously reported: "Several drones that were linked together and moving as a unit, with smaller drones hanging under the larger drones," one of the sources quoted the pilot as saying, "real alien stuff." Another informant told CNN that the pilot described seeing a "minefield of drones" in the air.

According to CNN research, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other ministry officials pushed for the two rescued crew members to take part in the interview format. However, both soldiers and military officials expressed concerns about secret details, and the pilot refused to take part. A Pentagon spokesman contradicted this representation to CNN.