The three F-15Es shot down over Kuwait yesterday were killed by a Kuwait Air Force F/A-18 Hornet, according to a Kuwait Air Force report. this wall street journal Lara Seligman. While there are rumors that ground-based air defenses shot down the aircraft, it does make sense based on the damage to one of the aircraft that the friendly fire incident was the result of a series of air-to-air engagements. That being said, we can’t independently confirm the report at this time.
EXCLUSIVE: A Kuwaiti F/A-18 fighter jet accidentally shot down three U.S. F-15 fighter jets on Sunday, according to three people familiar with initial reports of the incident. https://t.co/5xKB9jxwQs
— Laraseligman (@laraseligman) March 4, 2026
Seligman based his story on three sources “familiar with initial reports of the incident.” Only one Hornet is said to have been involved, firing three missiles and shooting down three Strike Eagles. Thankfully, the crew all survived. The report went on to point out that when the “blue on blue” incident occurred, multiple Iranian drones were invading Kuwait’s airspace. One attack on a base killed six Americans.
Footage of an F-15 crashing from the skies over Kuwait this morning in an apparent “friendly fire” incident involving the U.S. Air Force. pic.twitter.com/GQvryfJ4C4
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) March 2, 2026
As we recently explored in detail, mistaking friendly tactical aircraft for real threats in a very complex and rapidly changing battlefield is not unprecedented, as it has happened many times before, including the past two instances involving Kuwait. The air-to-air aspect of the story is certainly interesting and helps explain how the crew survived the shootdown. We saw an F-15E spinning into the ground with its vertical tail missing and its engine on fire. While this is catastrophic damage, it’s not something you typically see in most heavy surface-to-air missile engagements, although every engagement is different, so we can’t rule it out. But three kills, all of them alive, sounded like tail shots from less powerful weapons.
Additionally, if the Super Hornet were to use a passive heat-seeking missile (AIM-9 Sidewinder), the F-15E pilots would not know they were engaging until the weapon exploded. There are some caveats to this, including whether the hornet uses its radar to assist with rattlesnake targeting. But the Kuwait Hornets were clearly defending their airspace from drones at the time, so even being depicted on their radar may not indicate how serious the situation was about to become.
We will continue to report as the investigation into this bizarre friendly fire incident unfolds.
Contact the author: Tyler@twz.com
