Kuwait shoots down 3 US F-15 warplanes in friendly-fire incident
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
A flight deck crew member signals an F‑35 jet taking off from a US aircraft carrier during operations against Iran.
PHOTO: REUTERS
KUWAIT CITY – Kuwait’s air defences mistakenly shot down three US F-15 fighter jets during active combat on March 2, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) has said, describing it as an apparent friendly‐fire incident.
All six crew members ejected from the aircraft safely. They were recovered and were in stable condition, CENTCOM said.
“During active combat that included attacks from Iranian aircraft, ballistic missiles and drones the US Air Force fighter jets were mistakenly shot down by Kuwaiti air defenses,” CENTCOM said.
It said Kuwait acknowledged the incident, and that an investigation was under way.
Video images showed a US warplane falling out of the sky over Kuwait early on March 2, while a person could be seen parachuting.
The incident happened as Iran rained missiles and drones on US allies in the Persian Gulf in response to a wave of air strikes by the US and Israel across Iran that began on Feb 28.
Friendly-fire incidents are not uncommon when there is a lot of air defence activity. Radars tracking large numbers of incoming missiles, for instance, can mistake aircraft for threats amid the clutter.
In 2025, the US Navy shot down one of its own F-18 Hornet jets after the fighter was mistaken for an anti-ship cruise missile.
The US suffered its first casualties in the war with Iran on March 1, when three service members were killed and five others were “seriously wounded”.
In a separate incident, smoke was seen rising from the vicinity of the US embassy compound in Kuwait City. Fire trucks and ambulances were in the area.
Kuwait intercepted hostile drones earlier on March 2.
Two workers were slightly injured by falling debris at Kuwait’s Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery, Kuwait’s National Petroleum Company said on X.
The US embassy in Kuwait warned Americans that there was a continuing threat of missile and drone attacks Kuwait, and urged them not to come to the embassy.
It advised them to shelter in place, remain on the lowest floor of their residence away from windows and not go outside.
No injuries were reported after Kuwait air defences intercepted the majority of the drones near Rumaithiya and Salwa neighbourhoods, the state news agency cited the director-general of civil defence as saying.
Elsewhere, a series of loud blasts was heard early on March 2 in Dubai and the Qatari capital of Doha.
Iran said it would target US bases in the region after the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran on Feb 28.
It has also hit a range of civilian and commercial areas across Gulf cities, widening the conflict’s impact on key regional aviation and trade hubs. REUTERS, AFP
