On March 1, 2026, three F-15E fighter/bombers, each holding a pilot and a weapons system officer, had just completed a combat mission and were in friendly airspace when a Kuwaiti F-18 slid behind them and rippled off three missiles, one at each F-15. Caught unaware, the crews had no time to evade or deploy countermeasures. The missiles found their targets. The airframes were a total loss, but the crews ejected and survived, though one pilot might lose a hand.
Washington and Kuwait publicly called the shootdowns a “friendly fire” accident.
However, a White House source told Real Raw News that Washington and Kuwait invented a “friendly fire accident” cover story to obfuscate a breach of trust so alarming that it could’ve sparked public outrage and cries for the United States to sever ties with Kuwait.
The shootdowns, he said, were intentional, perpetrated by a Kuwaiti pilot and an Ali Khamenei sympathizer, a devout Muslim whose extended family includes members of Iran’s Shiite theocracy. He said the pilot, Badr Al Khalidi, carried out the attack to support Iran’s interests, motivated by his personal ties and ideological alignment with the country’s leadership. The pilot’s name, Badr Al Khalidi, has not been previously reported.
Al Khalidi, 31, attended Boeing Global Services flight training school in Oceana in 2024. The US government has multimillion-dollar contracts with Boeing to train foreign pilots to fly US aircraft sold to allies. Current programs involve transitioning Kuwaiti pilots from older F-18s to the more recent F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. Al Khalidi, upon completing the program, returned to the Kuwaiti Air Force’s Abdullah Al-Mubarak Air Base. As operation Epic Fury got underway, Al Khalidi was assigned to his squadron’s drone interdiction unit to shoot down Iranian drones in Kuwaiti airspace.
“The most incompetent pilot in the world wouldn’t mistake a very large F-15E for a small Shahed drone,” our source said. “Al Khalidi fired in visual range of the F-15s. He deliberately moved into the F-18’s weapon envelope, above and behind the 15s. Wasn’t a case of mistaken identity.”
Moreover, modern aircraft like the F-15 and F-18 have effective sensor suites that distinguish friend from foe via visual cues and audible ‘chirps.” Both planes have integrated Mode 5 Identify-Friend-or-Foe hardware, as well as Link-16, which provides a Common Operational Picture (COP) for improved battlefield management and reduced fratricide.
“This isn’t the best analogy, but for pilot with all the tools at his disposal to confuse an F-15 with a drone—it’d be like a husband mistaking his wife of 50 years for an intruder in broad daylight and shooting her,” our source said.
Al Khalidi, he continued, has a sister married to Mohammed Adel Zarie, a hardline Iranian Cleric and member of Iran’s Assembly of Experts, the governing body that selects the country’s supreme leader. Only after the shootdowns occurred did US intelligence learn that Adel Zarie had indoctrinated Al Khalidi to despise Americans and Israelis. Per our source, when Al Khaldi landed and stepped out of the cockpit, he thrusted his arm in the air and shouted, “Allahu Akbar, death to infidels.”
Kuwait State Security arrested Al Khalidi and tossed him in jail.
Emir of Kuwait Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah immediately informed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio about the unprovoked attack.
“I don’t know what went on behind closed doors, but I know a story was made up to prevent a diplomatic firestorm. One day, everyone will know the truth,” our source said.