Iran Claims Strike on US F-35, Challenges Stealth Image

The Islamic Republic of Iran successfully engaged the F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter, the US Air Force’s crown jewel, early on March 19, 2026, changing the strategic balance of the ongoing US-Israeli aggression against Iran. This was a first for any nation.

The F-35 program, a multitrillion-dollar fifth-generation platform intended to breach the world’s most advanced air defenses with complete impunity, symbolized the height of American military superiority for almost twenty years.

Over the skies of central Iran, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) used the local Majid infrared-guided system to debunk that myth and reveal the underlying weaknesses that advertising campaigns had long hidden.

In addition to withstanding the most intense aircraft assault since the Persian Gulf War, Iran’s integrated air defense network has steadily undermined the technological arrogance of the US-Israeli war machine as the aggression moves into its fourth week.

Iran has shown that it is capable of defending its sovereignty against the most sophisticated weapons the Western military-industrial complex can produce, from the destruction of over 125 advanced drones to the confirmed engagement of the first F-35. This has forced both allies and enemies to humiliatingly reevaluate American air power.

When IRGC air defense officers noticed an unusual signature entering central Iranian airspace on March 19 at 2:50 a.m. local time, the operation got underway.

Several lines of evidence indicate that the Majid short-range air defense system was the platform that brought down the American stealth jet, despite some sources attributing the engagement to the Talaash system.

The Iranian operators used the Majid short-range air defense system (AD-08), an indigenous platform that uses infrared guidance, instead of traditional radar-based systems that would have warned the F-35’s advanced electronic warfare suite.

Despite its power, the Pratt & Whitney F135 engine produces enormous thermal emissions that cannot be completely eliminated by engineering.

This vulnerability is specifically exploited by the Majid system, which was developed by the Defense Industry Organization of the Iranian Armed Forces Logistics Department and was introduced in April 2021.

It was intended for point defense rather than area coverage, with an engagement range of at least 700 meters and a ceiling of about 6 kilometers.