'We ran out of missiles': US fighter pilots recall countering Iranian attack on Israel

The F-15 fighter pilots have recollected a horrible experience of when they ran out of air-to-air missiles and switched to guns during the mammoth Iranian attack mounted on Israel, earlier this year.

Iran had, in April, fired more than 300 drones, ballistic and cruise missiles on Israel amid the ongoing middle-east conflict. 

In an interview with CNN, Major Benjamin “Irish” Coffey, an F-15 fighter pilot, has revealed that the US military was not expecting to run out on missiles while responding to the attack by Iran. He further recalled that they were instructed to use every weapon at their disposal to assist Israel. 

Soon, Major Coffey and his crew-mate, weapons systems officer Captain Lacie “Sonic” Hester came up with a plan to address the issue. They attempted to counter the missile attack by using the aircraft's gun, flying dangerously low and exteremely close to an Iranian drone in total darkness. Evidently, the move involved its own set of risks. 

“You feel the terrain rush, you feel yourself getting closer and closer to the ground. The risk was just too high to try again,” said Major Coffey. Further, the US military successfully intercepted 70 drones as well as three ballistic missiles during the mission, largely thwarting the assault.

They also recalled how they flew as close as they could to an Iranian drone and used a gun to target the attack. While this was an extremely dangerous maneuver for the pilots in total darkness, they ended up failing in their attempt. 

The Iranian missile attack - which was anticipated by the US force - was in retaliation for Israel's attack on the Iranian consulate building in Syria which left several members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps dead.