U.S. Military Set To Respond After Iran Downs AH-64, Trump Says

The U.S. military was poised to respond to Iranian forces on June 9 following the downing of a U.S. Army attack helicopter and rescue mission that appeared to be the first time an uncrewed vessel retrieved downed American pilots.

U.S. Central Command in a June 9 statement said an AH-64 Apache was downed near the coast of Oman while patrolling regional waters, where American forces are enforcing a blockade as part of the ongoing conflict with Iran. President Donald Trump in a separate social media post said Iran shot down the helicopter.

“The soldiers were safely rescued within approximately two hours and are in stable condition. The cause of the incident is under investigation,” CENTCOM said.

In a first, the two crewmembers were recovered by a Saronic Corsair uncrewed surface vessel operated by the U.S. Navy’s Task Force 59, supported by other Navy and U.S. Air Force assets in the region.

The incident also appeared to be another first—multiple outlets including CNN reported that the Apache was downed by an Iranian Shahed drone. But it is not clear if the incident was an intentional shootdown or a midair collision. Iran’s low-cost Shahed drone has been a key component of its strikes against U.S., Israeli and Gulf Coast nation sites, though this appears to be the first time one of the drones struck an aircraft.

In his social media post, which was later reposted by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Trump said the U.S. “must, of necessity, respond to this attack.”

The incident is the latest loss or damage of a U.S. military aircraft as part of Operation Epic Fury, which began in late February. The Congressional Research Service in a May 13 report tallied the total losses and damage to include four F-15Es, one F-35, one A-10, seven KC-135s, one E-3, two MC-130Js, one HH-60W, 24 MQ-9s and one MQ-4C, though the tally does not include the four MH-6s that were also destroyed on the ground in Iran.