How ‘defenceless’ Iran likely took down ‘unkillable’ US F-35 fighter jet?

Tehran (TIP): The F-35, America’s most advanced stealth fighter jet, has never been hit in combat in its entire operational history. Until March 19, when Iran did the unthinkable. Iran’s air defences, which US President Donald Trump said were destroyed, detected, locked on to, and hit an F-35. The US said the jet made an emergency landing at a base in the Middle East, even though Iran claimed it crashed. A second F-35 jet was also reportedly hit over Iran’s Bandar Abbas. It raises a pertinent question. How did Iran, with its depleted air defences, manage to hit one of the world’s most advanced and costliest aircraft?
That the US F-35 was flying over central Iran when it was struck indicates a degree of confidence within America’s security circles that Iranian air defences have been sufficiently weakened. “We’re flying wherever we want. Nobody is even shooting at us,” Trump boasted on Thursday. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth further said Iran’s air defences have been “flattened”. Hours later, the F-35 jet, which has been designed to evade radar, was hit.
Even before the US could issue a statement, Iran twisted the knife by publishing footage showing the exact moment when Iranian air defences tracked and intercepted the American jet, which cost over $100 million.
Factor this – the F-35 is the acme of US aerospace capabilities. It is the product of a trillion-dollar program. But now, a “decimated” Iran has shown it has certain vulnerabilities.
But how did a stealth aircraft, specifically designed to evade radar, get hit? Defence expert Sandeep Unnithan said the so-called stealth technology was a “misnomer”.
“Company brochures may claim it is totally invisible to radar. But there are other ways to get detected. One of them is through heat. It is exactly what happened on Thursday,” Unnithan told IndiaToday.in.
While it is not known what missiles the Iranians used, it was a loitering munition, specifically the 358 anti-aircraft missile, or a short-range surface-to-air missile.
The 358 missile, also known as the SA-67, is a kind of loitering drone equipped with an infrared sensor that can target slow-moving aircraft. But the F-35 is not a slow-moving jet. Previously, Iran has used the 358 missile to target American MQ-9 Reaper drones. Iran has also supplied these missiles to the Houthis in Yemen.
In fact, since the war began on February 28, the US has reportedly lost over 12 MQ-9 Reaper drones.