{"id":2579284,"date":"2026-03-12T21:54:02","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T01:54:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/us-military-plane-lost-amid-operation-epic-fury-us-central-command\/"},"modified":"2026-03-12T21:55:31","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T01:55:31","slug":"us-military-plane-lost-amid-operation-epic-fury-us-central-command","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/us-military-plane-lost-amid-operation-epic-fury-us-central-command\/","title":{"rendered":"US Military Plane Lost Amid &#8216;Operation Epic Fury&#8217;: US Central Command"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fus-military-plane-lost-amid-operation-epic-fury-us-central-command%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2579284&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>the article reports that U.S. Central Command confirmed the loss of a KC-135 refueling aircraft during Operation Epic Fury in the Middle East. CENTCOM said the incident occurred in friendly airspace and involved two aircraft; one went down in western Iraq while the second landed safely, wiht <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/at-least-eight-climbers-killed-in-iran-more-missing-after-heavy-snowfall\/\" title=\"At least eight climbers killed in Iran, more missing after heavy snowfall\">rescue efforts<\/a> ongoing and no indication that the loss was due to opposed or friendly fire. More details were promised as they become available. The piece notes that Operation Epic Fury is a joint U.S.-Israeli effort targeting Iran and states that the operation had previously \u201ckilled Tehran\u2019s now-former leader, ayatollah Ali khamenei,\u201d a claim presented as part of the report. It also references remarks by Donald Trump, who suggested the war was nearing completion and that Iran\u2019s military capabilities were severely diminished.The article mentions that at least seven American troops have died so far in the operation and frames the news within a highly polarized political context.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>U.S. Central Command has confirmed that the military lost a plane as &ldquo;Operation Epic Fury&rdquo; continues in the Middle East.<\/p>\n<p>CENTCOM put out a statement on Thursday and d the news on X:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">U.S. Central Command is aware of the loss of a U.S. KC-135 refueling aircraft. The incident occurred in friendly airspace during Operation Epic Fury, and rescue efforts are ongoing. Two aircraft were involved in the incident. One of the aircraft went down in western Iraq, and the&hellip;<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CENTCOM\/status\/2032211125882745265?\">March 12, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>While the post confirms the loss of a U.S. KC-135 refueling aircraft, it offered few details on much else &mdash; raising a suite of questions.<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"anyclipvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadAnyclip() { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst container=document.getElementById(\"anyclipvideo\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!container) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=\"https:\/\/player.anyclip.com\/anyclip-widget\/lre-widget\/prod\/v1\/src\/lre.js\"; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.setAttribute(\"pubname\", \"westernjournalcom\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.setAttribute(\"widgetname\", \"001w000001jULVcAAO_M12924\");  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ append inside the container so player shows in correct spot \t\t\t\t\t\tcontainer.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadAnyclip(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #anyclipvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#anyclipvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;U.S. Central Command is aware of the loss of a U.S. KC-135 refueling aircraft,&rdquo; the post read. &ldquo;The incident occurred in friendly airspace during Operation Epic Fury, and rescue efforts are ongoing.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Two aircraft were involved in the incident. One of the aircraft went down in western Iraq, and the second landed safely,&rdquo; it added.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;This was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>CENTCOM confirmed that it would  more details as they become available.<\/p>\n<p>It is not readily clear if any American lives were lost in this incident.<\/p>\n<p>This less-than-ideal bit of news comes amid one of the more polarizing events of President Donald Trump&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/breaking-arizona-state-rep-issues-call-to-withhold-states-electoral-college-votes-to-joe-biden-due-to-significant-evidence-of-fraud\/\" title=\"BREAKING: Arizona State Rep Issues Call to Withhold State&#039;s Electoral College Votes to Joe Biden Due to Significant Evidence of Fraud\">political career<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Operation Epic Fury&rdquo; is a joint U.S.-Israeli <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/confirmed-chinese-troops-on-canadian-soil-during-military-exercises\/\" title=\"Confirmed: Chinese Troops on Canadian Soil During Military Exercises\">military operation<\/a> targeting Iran and had already killed Tehran&rsquo;s now-former leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.<\/p>\n<p>While Trump and his administration have given assurances that this was a necessary military move and completely different from the disastrous Iraq war, critics and doubters have <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >remained skeptical &#038;mdash<\/a>; even, or perhaps especially, within conservative circles that have long supported Trump&rsquo;s &ldquo;no new wars&rdquo; mantra.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps sensing this tension, Trump told the media that with Khamenei and most of his inner circle killed shortly after the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/facebook-accuses-china-of-using-fake-swiss-biologist-to-peddle-coronavirus-misinformation\/\" title=\"Facebook Accuses China of Using Fake Swiss Biologist to Peddle Coronavirus Misinformation\">operation launched<\/a> on Feb. 28, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/trump-says-objectives-iran-essentially-complete-hints-operation-might-winding\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">things would start winding down<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I think the war is very complete, pretty much,&rdquo; Trump told CBS News.<\/p>\n<p>He added, &ldquo;They have no navy, no communications, they&rsquo;ve got no Air Force.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>In fact, Trump also said that the military operation was advancing much faster than the expected duration he had originally spoken of.<\/p>\n<p>At least seven American troops have died so far in &ldquo;Operation Epic Fury,&rdquo; and were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/hegseth-honors-americans-killed-action-operation-epic-fury-enters-second-week-deaths-will-not-vain\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">recently honored<\/a> by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here\u2019s a paraphrase of the provided content:<\/p>\n<p>CENTCOM has confirmed the loss of a U.S. KC-135 refueling aircraft during Operation Epic Fury in the Middle East. In a statement posted on X on Thursday, CENTCOM said the incident occurred in friendly airspace and involved two aircraft; one went down in western Iraq while the other landed safely, and rescue efforts were underway. The brief message offered few details beyond these facts and did not immediately indicate whether any American lives were lost.<\/p>\n<p>The article notes that the scant details raise several questions.<\/p>\n<p>It describes Operation Epic Fury as a joint U.S.-Israeli campaign targeting Iran and claims the operation had already killed Tehran\u2019s now-former leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. It discusses political context, noting that Trump and his administration characterized the move as necessary and distinct from the Iraq War, while critics-including some conservatives-remained skeptical of the plan for \u201cno new wars.\u201d Trump was quoted telling CBS News that the war was largely over and that Iran\u2019s military capabilities were greatly diminished, asserting the operation was advancing faster than originally projected. The piece also states that at least seven American troops have died so far in Epic Fury, with recent honors paid by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2579285,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Ben-Working-Feature-Image-2026-03-12T201724.877.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[21902,52077,75687,75688,33489],"class_list":["post-2579284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-centcom","tag-military-aviation","tag-missing-aircraft","tag-operation-epic-fury-2","tag-us-military"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Ben-Working-Feature-Image-2026-03-12T201724.877.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2579284","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2579284"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2579284\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2579288,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2579284\/revisions\/2579288"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2579285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2579284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2579284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2579284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}