How an Old Iranian F-5 Busted Epic Fury's High-Tech Defenses (Ward Carroll)

NBC News recently reported that “In the initial days of the war, an Iranian F-5 fighter jet bombed the U.S. base Camp Buehring in Kuwait, despite the base having air defenses, a rare breach that marked the first time an enemy fixed-wing aircraft has struck an American military base in years, according to two of the U.S. officials."

But the F-5 strike is just one piece of a bigger picture that suggests two things:

1. The Iranians executed a multi-axis, multi-platform attack on March 1 that was much more sophisticated and devastating than the Pentagon has admitted.

2. For all the regional build-up going into Epic Fury, there is evidence that the CENTCOM force protection posture left some gaps in base defenses that the Iranians exploited.

In this episode, Mooch analyzes what went wrong and what needs to be done to ensure it doesn't happen again.



The fact this attack was even attempted is very surprising, and amazing, considering the success of their drone and missile strikes. A very risky proposition.

Related:

How An Iranian F-5 Tiger Attacked Camp Buehring | Real Life Mission Impossible - Behind Enemy Lines (Growling Sidewinder)


[Posted at the SpookyWeather2 blog, May 2, 2026.]