MOSCOW, April 7. /TASS/. The Pentagon suffered the loss of aircraft and helicopters valued at a minimum of $500 million during the rescue mission aimed at retrieving a downed pilot in Iran, military expert Alexander Stepanov of the Institute of Law and National Security at the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA) told TASS.

According to Military Magazine Watch, the United States lost approximately 11 aircraft during this operation, including costly HC-130J search and rescue planes and Little Bird reconnaissance helicopters used by US Special Operations Forces (SOF) to carry out covert missions behind enemy lines. Stepanov noted that these losses appear disproportionate to the mission's outcome - namely, the destruction of equipment worth hundreds of millions of dollars. He even estimates the total loss exceeds half a billion dollars.

He further suggested that some of the equipment was destroyed along with the personnel, citing online images of charred bodies alongside wreckage as evidence. Stepanov opined that the rescue operation was primarily a public relations effort, driven by the Trump administration’s desire for some form of victory. However, the extent of American equipment losses, he emphasized, indicates that the US does not maintain air superiority over Iran.

On Friday, a two-seat F-15E fighter jet was shot down over Iranian territory. Axios reported that both crew members - the pilot and navigator - managed to establish contact with rescuers. Sources indicated that the pilot was rescued several hours after the aircraft was shot down. During the rescue, Iran shot down one of the American Black Hawk helicopters involved in the operation; its crew members were injured, though the pilot managed to escape.

It took more than a day to locate the navigator. The rescue effort commenced on Saturday. Meanwhile, US fighter jets conducted strikes against Iranian forces in the area to prevent them from locating the remaining crew before US special forces could reach them.