ToplineThe U.S. military rescued an officer after an F-15E fighter jet was shot down by Iranian forces on Friday, President Donald Trump announced early Sunday morning, reportedly employing “dozens” of military aircraft and a CIA “deception” technique suggesting the airman was already found.Iranian state media said early Friday it shot down a U.S. fighter jet. (Photo by JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images)AFP via Getty ImagesKey FactsIn a post on Truth Social shortly after midnight EDT, Trump said the missing officer was rescued after an operation in Iranian territory without any American casualties, saying the airman “sustained injuries, but he will be just fine.”But hours later, just before 8 a.m., Trump offered more details, saying the U.S. officer was “seriously wounded.”The other crew member in the F-15E crash was rescued by U.S. forces and was receiving medical treatment as of Friday afternoon.Trump said the two successful missions meant the U.S. achieved “overwhelming Air Dominance and Superiority over the Iranian skies,” despite losing the F-15E Strike Eagle to Iranian air defenses on Friday.Iranian state media first claimed early Friday it had downed a U.S. fighter jet over central Iran, and multiple U.S. outlets later reported Iran shot down the jet, an F-15E two-seater plane.The downed aircraft comes after Trump announced a strike on an Iranian highway bridge near Tehran and warned of “much more to follow,” also claiming the United States would bombard Iran “back to the stone ages” over the next several weeks. Trump, who previously claimed the United States “knocked out” Iran’s navy, air force and air defense capabilities, did not comment on the rescue operations in an interview with NBC News, noting the incident would not affect peace negotiations with Iran.Cia Spread False Information As Part Of Rescue EffortsThe Central Intelligence Agency was closely involved in the operation to locate and rescue the missing airman, multiple outlets reported on Sunday, citing U.S. government officials. The agency used a “deception” campaign to misdirect Iranian forces also looking for the military officer—who was identified as the weapons officer onboard the F-15.—trying to convince Iranian forces the airman was already found and in the process of being extracted. He was finally located after he activated a beacon—an emergency device that transmitted his location, the New York Times reported. However, military officers are trained not to constantly transmit their locations while behind enemy lines. The operation to rescue the airman involved hundreds of military service members and dozens of aircraft and intelligence assets, according to the New York Times, and was finally extracted by members of Navy SEAL Team 6—the same elite unit most known for killing Osama bin Laden during a 2011 mission in Pakistan. The military bombed the area surrounding the airman and Navy SEALs opened fire at Iranian forces in the area during the extraction, a military official told the Times. However, they did not exchange gunfire with enemy forces, the official also told the Times, and no military members were wounded during the operation. The officer was then flown to a military hospital in Kuwait. Trump first claimed the officer from the downed F-15 was injured but “he will be just fine,” later calling him “seriously injured.”In this image from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's official website, wreckage is shown at what Iran's state TV claimed was the site of a downed American transport plane and two helicopters involved in a rescue operation, in Isfahan province, Iran. The U.S. says the planes were deliberately destroyed.Associated PressIran Desperately Searched For Missing American OfficersBefore the pilot and weapons officer were rescued, Iranian officials urged the public to search for the missing U.S. service members. “If you capture the enemy pilot or pilots alive and hand them over to the police, you will receive a precious prize,” Iranian state television anchors told locals, according to video published by the Associated Press. A chiron on the broadcast also warned locals to “shoot them if you see them,” according to the outlet. After announcing the officer was rescued, Trump said he was “being hunted down by our enemies, getting closer and closer every hour.” Other U.s. Aircraft Destroyed In MissionTrump said the operation involved “dozens” of military aircraft. Iranian state media broadcast videos of the wreckage of American aircraft destroyed in the operation, the Associated Press reported. But U.S. officials told the Wall Street Journal that two MC-130J transport planes were deliberately destroyed by the U.S. military during the operation.What Do We Know About Friday’s Second Plane Crash?An A-10 Warthog attack plane crashed near the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, the Times reported, and its pilot was safely rescued, though other details about the crash are unclear, including why or how the plane crashed. The A-10 crash occurred around the same time as the previously reported F-15E jet was shot down by Iran, according to the Times.What Do We Know About The Jet—including Costs?The downed jet was an F-15E Strike Eagle, the New York Times reported. F-15E Strike Eagle jets seat two crew members, a pilot and a weapons systems officer, and they are used for both air-to-air and air-to-ground missions, according to an Air Force fact sheet. F-15E jets cost $31.1 million in 1998 constant dollars, according to the fact sheet, though the Wall Street Journal previously reported newer models can cost close to $100 million. The jets were designed in the 1980s and have been used in various wars, including with Iraq and Afghanistan, and the jets are able to carry missiles and nuclear weapons, the fact sheet says. F-15E jets can travel at speeds up to 1,875 mph, or roughly 2.5-times the speed of sound, and they are capable of traveling 2,400 miles before needing to refuel. On March 1, three F-15E Strike Eagle jets were downed over Kuwait in what the U.S. Central Command said was a friendly fire incident by Kuwaiti air defenses. The six crew members were safely ejected.Big Number$1.5 trillion. That’s the massive military budget Trump asked Congress for earlier Friday for fiscal year 2027, a 40% increase over the previous fiscal year budget. The White House said it would seek cuts to “woke, weaponized, and wasteful programs” to pay for the massive military budget increase, and Trump reportedly said at a private lunch earlier this week military spending should take precedence over social service programs. “We’re fighting wars. We can’t take care of day care . . . it’s not possible for us to take care of day care, Medicaid, Medicare, all these individual things,” Trump said, adding states should pay for these programs instead of the federal government. Further ReadingTrump Suggests U.S. Will ‘Take The Oil’ From Strait Of Hormuz ‘With A Little More Time’ (Forbes)Trump Asks Congress For $1.5 Trillion Defense Budget—After Teasing Medicaid, Medicare Cuts (Forbes)