For many decades, the United States built up something as powerful as aircraft carriers and squadrons of F-35s and many other sophisticated fighter jets and drones. The Iran war has been a master class in how to squander it.
The Islamic Republic of Iran has unveiled a large collection of US & Israeli aircraft & UAV wreckage recovered during the recent war, displayed inside an underground IRGC Aerospace Force air-defense base.
Among them are wreckage from MQ-9 Reapers, Hermes 900s, Hermes 450s, alongside an MQ-9 identified with serial number 261.
Tehran says some UAVs were also recovered largely intact despite multiple methods to evade air-defense detection and interception.
Iran also displayed the remains of a US F-15 shot down on April 3. According to the IRGC, the aircraft was shot down using a new domestically produced air-defense system and missile combined with unconventional tactics, leaving its crew only seconds to react before impact.
The IRGC says more than 85% of its air-defense production infrastructure survived the war, allowing production and deliveries to continue without significant interruption. Production rates for several missiles and systems that proved effective during the fighting have reportedly since risen above pre-war levels.
Also displayed are Starlink terminals, which Iran says were associated with communications involving U.S. and Israeli UAV operations and networks inside Iran.
171 aircrafts (majority drones) were hit during the war, including 10 crewed aircraft, alongside numerous UAVs and cruise missiles.
Iran says the wreckage displayed at the underground facility represents only a portion of the aircraft and drones it has brought down
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