President Donald Trump said today that Iran shot down a US Apache helicopter patrolling the Strait of Hormuz overnight and promised a response, but gave no other details.
"I have just been informed by our great military that the Iranians shot down one of our very sophisticated Apache helicopters last night while it was patrolling over the Strait of Hormuz," Trump wrote in a social media post.
"Nevertheless, the United States must, out of necessity, respond to this attack," he added.
The US military's Central Command announced earlier today that the AH-64 Apache crashed at around 3 a.m. local time, or 11 p.m. GMT on Monday, near the coast of Oman while patrolling regional waters.
It did not give a reason for the crash. The US and Iran are in an uncertain truce, with occasional clashes and Iranian drone and missile attacks on US regional allies.
The US military told Reuters that a Navy surface drone found and rescued two crew members from a gunship helicopter, and President Trump said earlier today that the pilots were "fine."
US Central Command has described the condition of the two crew members more cautiously, stating that they are in stable condition.
"The soldiers were safely rescued within approximately two hours and are in stable condition. The cause of the incident is under investigation," the statement said.
The US military said the drone that carried out the rescue was a US Navy Corsair, which manufacturer Saronic describes on its website as a 24-foot (7,3-meter) autonomous surface vessel capable of carrying up to 454 kilograms (1.000 pounds) over a distance of more than 1,000 nautical miles.
"The drone picked them up and transported them to another location on the water, where they were transferred to a helicopter for onward transport," said Navy Capt. Tim Hawkins, a spokesman for Central Command.
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