Qatar’s Emiri Air Force shot down two Iranian Sukhoi Su-24 tactical bombers on March 2, reportedly intercepting them just two minutes before the aircraft could have reached Al Udeid Air Base, the crucial US military installation in the Gulf. Four Iranian pilots, two from each aircraft, remain missing.
The Iranian military has since praised the mission as “epic,” even as Tehran has yet to formally acknowledge losing any aircraft.
What happened over Qatar
The two Su-24s approached their targets at an altitude of roughly 80 feet, essentially skimming the surface in a tactic designed to duck beneath radar coverage. It’s a desperate, high-risk maneuver typically reserved for situations where you expect the air defenses to be better than your ability to survive them at normal altitude.
Qatari fighters intercepted the bombers before they could reach their objectives, marking what appears to be Qatar’s first air-to-air combat engagement against Iranian aircraft.
