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By that same logic that fact that we only lost 1 F-15 in, what, almost 3 weeks of bombing is actually a pretty good sign. Especially when you factor in that the
by ericmay 7mo ago
By that same logic that fact that we only lost 1 F-15 in, what, almost 3 weeks of bombing is actually a pretty good sign. Especially when you factor in that the Russians (proven) and Chinese (yet to be proven) are assisting Iran and Iran has been buying and building all of this military infrastructure at the expense of living conditions for its people just for this very attack, only to have almost everything obliterated.
And 3 weeks in to the war and the US is flying refueling tankers to refuel Blackhawks in the very area the F-15 was shot down to recover the pilots (1 so far has been received) should be much more informative than it seems to be.
But sure... the KARI system in Iraq.
- cjbgkagh 7mo agoI’m reading one of those Blackhawks was shot down. An A-10, F-16, and a refueling plane, in addition to the F-15 so far today. Which, if true, is not a good sign.
- ericmay 7mo ago[flagged]
- cjbgkagh 7mo agoWe must be using different definitions for ‘complete’. I think Iran is using loitering anti-air missiles with IR seeking which seems to be effective. Maybe this sudden spike is reflective of receiving new equipment from China.
- ericmay 7mo ago[flagged]
- cjbgkagh 7mo agoI would term it; the US has air dominance but the airspace is still contested as evident by the recent losses. Also, I think the US is still predominantly using standoff munitions instead of switching to dumb munitions because the airspace is still contested.
- ericmay 7mo ago[flagged]
- Saline9515 7mo agoThe us has air dominance but not air supremacy, which is why missiles are mostly used rather than bombs with gps kits, requiring to get much closer. And the US has been very keen to bomb civilians and civilian infrastructure, along with Israelis, since the start of the war [0]. The US-Israelis are guilty of war crimes. The recent bombing of an unfinished bridge is another example of the US-Israeli actions, especially since they did a double-tap to kill rescuers. [1] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Qeshm_Island_desalination_plant_attack https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Qeshm_Island_desalination... [1] https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/firestorm-for-hegseth-after-reported-us-double-tap-in-iran/ar-AA202eTB https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/firestorm-for-hegseth-a...
- ElProlactin 7mo ago> Yes the US probably is still using precision weapons because, well, unlike the Iranian government we don't want to use so-called dumb munitions and indiscriminately bomb civilians or civilian targets. Are you referring to the "precision" weapons that hit the girls' school?
- bijowo1676 7mo agoUS did murder 170 girls in Minab school, and hit many civilian targets, including a water desalination plant. Yes US is using precision weapons, but not because they want to avoid indiscriminate bombing. It's because US wants to precisely bomb specific civilian targets
- drnick1 7mo agoOne could argue that the IRGC, much like Hamas, purposely builds military headquarters and other facilities near hospitals, schools, and civilian infrastructure precisely to use civilians as human shields.
- pavel_lishin 7mo ago> I guess my definition is “US can do whatever it wants without contest” and that seems to be the case here. Whatever it wants, as long as that doesn't include flying aircraft or going through the strait.
- lostlogin 7mo agoMaybe ericmay is arguing that the US wants its planes shot down?
- seanw444 7mo agoNot sure why you're getting downvoted. It is completely expected to lose aircraft in an operation of this scale, against an opponent with this level of sophistication. People put way too much stock in all of these modern stealth systems and whatnot. Stealth, for example, is a buzzword. It will give a slight edge, but it's not going to make your aircraft completely invisible and unshootable.
- lostlogin 7mo agoThe Iran war is going exactly to plan and this isn’t a bad day for the US administration?
- bijowo1676 7mo agoStealth really should be qualified as radar-stealth, not optical stealth and not infrared stealth. Iran is using infrared seekers to shut down planes and US pilots never get a warning of incoming missile due to Iran's passive IR seekers
- voganmother42 7mo agoOh yeah, its going great, so much achieved for only 30B and untold human lives, the winning!
- conception 7mo agoWell we’re talking about Iran instead of the President’s “dealings” with a bevy of children so mission accomplished!
- ElProlactin 7mo ago> Yet we've wiped out quite a bit of their military infrastructure and have complete control over the skies. How can you believe that the US has "complete control over the skies" given today's events?
- pavel_lishin 7mo ago> have complete control over the skies. If we had complete control over the skies, we wouldn't be losing aircraft, would we?
- oa335 7mo ago> Iran has been buying and building all of this military infrastructure at the expense of living conditions for its people Iran spends about 2.5% of its GDP on defense, compared to USA at around 3.5%. How much should they be spending? https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/MS.MIL.XPND.GD.ZS?locations=IR-US&start=2000 https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/MS.MIL.XPND.GD.ZS?locat...
- logicchains 7mo agoAlmost half of the economy is controlled by the IRGC: https://fortune.com/2026/03/02/iran-islamic-revolutionary-guard-irgc-business-empire-economy-us-israel-bombing/ https://fortune.com/2026/03/02/iran-islamic-revolutionary-gu...
- g8oz 7mo agoExtensive domestic economic control by security forces is also a feature of Egypt and Pakistan. America does not complain about those examples of course, because those countries bend the knee.
- logicchains 7mo agoThose countries, like Iran, are also quite poor because the army siphons off so much of their resources.
- platevoltage 7mo ago[flagged]
- LtWorf 7mo agoAnd it seems that they did in fact need that army.
- AnimalMuppet 7mo agoIf by "bend the knee" you mean that they don't regularly chant "death to America", sure.
- deleted 7mo ago[deleted]
- anigbrowl 7mo agoThe US has lost mutiple KC-125 tankers and an E3 as well, although those were destroyed ont he ground rather than shot down. building all of this military infrastructure at the expense of living conditions for its people Just yesterday, Trump was talking about another $1.5 trillion for defense in the coming fiscal year, and saying the US can't afford things like daycare, medicare etc. Iran's military budget as a % of GDP has historically been inthe low single digits: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_budget_of_Iran https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_budget_of_Iran
- bijowo1676 7mo ago[flagged]
- riffraff 7mo agoDid you completely miss the disaster of DOGE in the first year of this administration?
- Goronmon 7mo agoUS welfare system seems to contain a lot of fraud, waste, abuse and grift across the board, so this will be a good chance to cleanse the system of fraud. Taking money from social programs and piling into the military which contains "a lot of fraud, waste, abuse and grift across the board", certainly is a choice. Sort of the opposite of a smart choice, but definitely a choice for sure.
- bijowo1676 7mo ago[flagged]
- FpUser 7mo ago>" taking money from fraud waste and abuse" Congrats. Finally somebody who wants to dismantle US government.
- 7mo ago
- ajross 7mo ago> By that same logic that fact that we only lost 1 F-15 in, what, almost 3 weeks of bombing is actually a pretty good sign. "Good sign" of what, though? Air superiority? I guess, sure. But we've constructed a strategic situation for ourselves where mere air superiority is losing. The straight remains closed. Because let's be blunt: if we can't reliably fly a F-15E or A-10 in the region, there's no way an oil company is going to bet its crew and cargo. Honestly the best situation here is that Iran merely decides to toll the straight. That's "losing" too, but at least one with a merely "large financial overhead" on international energy traffic instead of a disastrous 15% off the top cut in capacity. Iran is winning. This is the difference between tactics and strategy.
- orwin 7mo agoThe toll is cheap I think, between one and two dollar a barrel, so less than 2 million per boat. Honestly a good price to end the war.
- ajross 7mo agoIn a practical sense, from the perspective of the world as a whole, sure. It's also true that it leaves Iran in a much more powerful position than they held before the war[1]. So it's a "loss", strategically. It's uncomfortable to admit given the context, but the truth is that the Islamic Republic of Iran really is a terrible state, both to its own people and its neighbors, and a much wealthier Iran represents a genuine threat to world peace on its own. [1] To wit: "This is Our Water now. Pay us what we want. Don't like it? Come bomb us again and see how your oil markets like that. We can take it. You soft infidels can't, and we proved that already. Now it's $4/barrel, btw." Imagine that delivered on Truth Social for more ironic impact. It's Trump bluster, but with actual teeth.
- culi 7mo agoWell there were also the 3 F-15's that were shot down in one day in Kuwait. CENTCOM said it was a "friendly fire" incident
- the__alchemist 7mo agoCorrect. Kuwaiti Hornet pilot who likely thought he was shooting down weapons or aircraft from Iran.
- mathgradthrow 7mo agoI don't know if any have completed runs yet, but supposedly we're using B-52s...
- fastasucan 7mo ago>Iran has been buying and building all of this military infrastructure at the expense of living conditions for its people just for this very attack, And how much is US spending? >just for this very attack, only to have almost everything obliterated. The spending was apparently justified.