Published on •Updated
A US airman rescued after his fighter jet was shot down over Iran is being treated at a military hospital in Germany, according to several US media outlets.
The weapons systems officer was taken to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Rhineland-Palatinate, the reports said.
US President Donald Trump confirmed the rescue but said the airman, a colonel, was “seriously wounded”.
Tehran shot down an F-15E fighter jet with a two-man crew last week during the Iran war. Both servicepeople survived the crash.
The weapons systems officer was initially listed as missing but was later recovered by US forces in a complex rescue operation.
Rescued by ‘Ghost Murmur’ tech
The CIA located him using a previously secret technology called “Ghost Murmur,” according to the New York Post. The system was reportedly used for the first time last weekend.
The technology uses quantum magnetometry to detect electromagnetic signatures of the human body, specifically the heart signal, according to the report.
AI filters these signals out of background noise.
“It is like hearing a voice in a stadium, except the stadium is a thousand square miles of desert,” a source told the newspaper. “Under the right conditions, if your heart is beating, we will find you.”
The technology works best in remote areas with little electromagnetic interference, such as desert regions, the report said. The system was reportedly developed by Skunk Works, the secret research division of US defence contractor Lockheed Martin.
Landstuhl Regional Medical Centre is the largest American military hospital outside the United States and serves as a medical hub for US armed forces between operational theatres and home.
Severely wounded soldiers are usually stabilised first, often in mobile facilities or regional bases, and then flown to Germany on military aircraft.
The hospital’s proximity to Ramstein Air Base is key, as the base is the largest US Air Force facility outside the United States and acts as a logistical hub for troops, equipment and wounded personnel.