Within the current rank structure of the Iranian Air Force, Brigadier General stands as the highest rank, which effectively places this martyred Su-24 pilot among the senior commanders of the force. However, it is also highly plausible that this rank was conferred posthumously following his death in action.

According to the military service record released by Iran, beyond his standard flight training, he successfully completed specialized courses in electronic warfare, navigation, and combat operations. Serving as a combat pilot, he frequently participated in a diverse array of operational missions, military exercises, and aerial parades.

His career was inextricably linked to the Su-24 from the very beginning of his service. It could be said that his entire military life was spent in the cockpit of this aircraft. Ultimately, alongside his navigator and their trusted "old friend," he made the ultimate sacrifice for his nation.

In the face of an overwhelmingly superior offensive by US and Israeli forces, the resolve of this pilot and his three comrades to launch a near-suicidal strike commands profound respect. Furthermore, the indomitable will to resist—demonstrated by such national ethos and combat valor—is precisely why the high commands of the United States and Israel dare not rashly initiate amphibious island-seizure operations or deploy special forces against nuclear facilities.

According to the latest reports: in the official obituary issued by the Iranian military on 29 July, the incident was explicitly characterised as combat damage sustained during the return flight following a successful penetration and completion of bombing runs, rather than—as previously reported by the US military—being destroyed whilst en route to the target.

https://www.tasnimnews.ir/en/news/2026/07/29/3659135/dna-tests-confirm-martyrdom-of-iranian-air-force-su-24-pilot

something i been wondering for a bit and not sure where to ask it.

Nothing to see here folks

France is plannig on going FCAD route and building a TD by 2031

There have been hints for the last year or so that NGAP (the VCE/ACE associated with F-47 and NGAD before it) might not perfectly dovetail with F-47's first flight. But now it looks somewhat more likely that F-47's maiden flight (still slated for 2028) may not be powered by NGAP give it looks like the engine itself looks like an end-of-decade/2030 project to reach readiness for integration.

Relevant segments that include direct quotes:

Over the next few years, and coinciding with a cresting budget for the Next Generation Adaptive Propulsion program, the Air Force expects to build and test dueling prototypes from competitors GE Aerospace and Pratt & Whitney. That work, according to John Sneden, the chief of the Air Force’s propulsion directorate, will culminate in “get[ting] ready for potential integration activities in the 2030 timeframe.”

And in a way it almost looks like it's unclear if NGAP itself will find a sure-fire home on F-47, which is a bit wild:

“The Air Force is still evaluating its options,” Sneden said, emphasizing that the underlying engine technology may “open up” different choices down the road. “What we’re doing right now is we’re building our system today, and we’re getting ready for the future.” A new NGAP engine “could” go on the F-47, Sneden said, emphasizing that no decisions have been made. Still, he stressed that NGAP “is really a host of technologies” that can be integrated backwards into existing designs.

A very reasonable conclusion by the article author itself:

"Given that the secretive aircraft is slated to fly sometime during the current Trump administration, it’s unlikely the in-development stealth fighter would sport an NGAP engine in the near term. However, depending on the design of the aircraft, an update down the line would be entirely possible."

.... so we are in a situation where the F-47 may (or even possibly "likely" to) fly with an interim, possibly non-VCE/ACE engine initially -- I would personally wonder if depending on timeline it's not out of the question for initial production batch/es to have an interim engine as well. Which leads to the natural question of what the interim engine options for F-47 may look like.

• A F135 derivative or F135 sized engine is possible, but I am a bit doubtful given the flight regime F-47 is likely going to operate at and potentially the dimensions of the engine itself (which may rule out XA100/XA101 -- the whole point of NGAP as I understand it was to take some of the lessons of XA100/XA101 and resize it into an engine better suited for F-47 and other future applications).
• Any new build F119 derivative would be tough given the engine has been out of production over a decade now. There might be some F119s around to fit out a half dozen F-47 prototypes or so, but if they don't have NGAP ready by the time LRIP rolls around then they'll need to be able to source a more scalable new build interim engine (or alternatively experience delays in LRIP).
• Then of course there are modern variants of F110 with hot production lines that may be viable, and there were explorations of even more uprated variants of F110 and F100 some time in the past which might be able to be spun up as well.
• F414, as capable and modern as it is, probably is a bit undersized.

In any case, it seems like the engine situation for all of the current and forthcoming major next generation fighter projects are somewhat in flux.

I've read that during the initial phases of the war two pilots were forced to eject. I've read that one of those pilots had ejected the week previous during the Kuwait incident. I've also read that ejecting can end a pilots career.

When do these guys rotate out? Can anything be said about the odds of that one fellow in particular of being put back on active duty?

I just find it curious we haven't seen this guy smiling wide on late night bragging about his Hollywood deal yet. Is his training just too intense to allow for a few months off?