U.S. officials and analysts point out that recent statements by Hedges, describing the campaign against Iran as "complete control over Iranian airspace" and "undisputed air dominance," do not align with actual battlefield conditions and may mislead the public and even President Trump. The report states that Iran shot down a U.S. F-15E fighter jet and forced the United States into a high-risk rescue operation, demonstrating that Tehran still retains the capability to threaten U.S. personnel and platforms. This casts doubt on Hedges' repeated claims over recent weeks that Iran no longer possessed air defense capabilities. Although Trump continues to claim the war is progressing "incredibly smoothly," he also acknowledged that the aircraft was brought down by a shoulder-fired infrared-guided missile and described it as a "lucky hit." The report further claims that Iran shot down another A-10 attack aircraft last Friday, though the pilot managed to fly the plane back into friendly airspace before ejecting. Analysts believe that while the U.S. has indeed severely damaged Iran's navy, air force, and certain fixed missile and radar targets, this does not equate to achieving risk-free "air supremacy." Analysts argue that the downing of the F-15 precisely illustrates that the U.S. currently holds only "limited air superiority" rather than "absolute air dominance," with advantages mainly concentrated in parts of western and southern Iranian airspace and possibly constrained by flight altitude.
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Original article: toutiao.com/article/1861879733197851/
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