After a U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle was shot down over Iranian territory, efforts by U.S. forces to evacuate two pilots who ejected in Iran resulted in aviation losses on a scale unprecedented in the post–Cold War era, Military Watch Magazine reports.

A total of 11 aircraft were lost in clashes with Iranian forces.

Iranian air defense systems shot down two UH-60 helicopters, two MQ-9 drones, an A-10 aircraft, and an Israeli Hermes 900 reconnaissance drone. Following these engagements, particular attention was drawn to two separate videos showing the crashes of two Black Hawk helicopters.

Additional losses were sustained after two HC-130J Combat King II search-and-rescue aircraft and two MH-6 helicopters landed in Iran and, according to U.S. sources, were unable to take off. This reportedly prompted U.S. forces to destroy them on the ground to prevent their use by Iranian forces.

The rapid depletion of missile arsenals by the United States and Israel is increasingly forcing both countries’ armed forces to operate closer to Iranian airspace, using cheaper and more readily available gravity bombs, which significantly increases risks.