Dozens of aircraft, hundreds of buildings: US loss to Iran attacks revealed

A Pentagon watchdog has revealed that the United States lost dozens of aircraft, including at least 30 MQ-9 Reaper drones, and that hundreds of buildings and structures used by the US were damaged or destroyed by Iranian attacks during the conflict.

The report published on Monday by the Department of Defense inspector general offers the first official account of the losses Washington has incurred in the war from 28 February to 30 June.

Moreover, the report acknowledges that the US is running short on its munition stockpile and facing “bottlenecks” in supply chains, contradicting President Donald Trump’s repeated pushback. On Monday, Trump said the US is producing “more Exquisite and Elite Weapons than at any time in our History”. Previously, he asserted that the US has “virtually unlimited” ammunition after reports of shortages by the US media.

An estimated $22bn was spent on expended munitions between 28 February and 30 June during Operation Epic Fury (the name of the US military operation), the report said, adding that the war has cost $33bn during the same period.

Throughout the war – beginning with the US-Israel attacks on Iran in late February – Tehran has routinely bombed US bases and assets in the Gulf region. For most of those attacks, Gulf countries and Washington said the incoming strikes had been intercepted and thwarted.

But the Pentagon’s report paints a picture of significant damage and losses running into millions of dollars to US forces and facilities in the region, far more than previously acknowledged.

Currently, the US and Iran are locked in a diplomatic deadlock, with the Strait of Hormuz, a global oil chokepoint, remaining almost entirely blocked.

So, what losses has the US incurred in its war on Iran?

How many US personnel were killed?

The Pentagon’s report says the Defense Department has reported that at least 11 US military personnel were “killed in action”, while seven died in “non-hostile events” during the war.

At least six were killed at Kuwait’s Port Shuaiba on 1 March; one in Saudi Arabia on the same day; three at Jordan’s Muwaffaq al-Salti airbase, or the Al Azraq base, on 17 July; and one at Iraq’s Erbil airbase on 19 July, in Iranian attacks.

The report added that at least six personnel were killed after a premier jet-powered aerial refuelling tanker KC-135 crashed in Iraq on 12 March, while another was killed after an MH-60S helicopter crashed in the Arabian Sea on 1 July.

These killings were already public.

The mandatory report to the US Congress added that at least 417 US military personnel were wounded in Iranian attacks until 30 June.

How many aircraft did the US lose?

The US losses covered everything from front-line fighters and attack aircraft to aerial-refuelling tankers, airborne command-and-control planes, rescue helicopters, and unmanned surveillance aircraft.

F-15E: At least four of these two-seat $30m fighter jets were destroyed. Three of these twin-engine fighter-bombers used for air-to-ground strikes as well as air-to-air combat were shot down by friendly fire over Kuwait on 1 March. A fourth was shot down during combat over Iran in April. All aircrews were recovered.

F-35A: At least one of the US’s prized stealth multirole fighters, designed to penetrate heavily defended airspace, was damaged in Iranian fire in March.

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A-10: At least one of the heavily armoured ground-attack aircraft, designed primarily to provide close air support to troops on the ground, was shot down by Iranian fire.

KC-135: At least seven of these large aerial-refuelling tankers, which extend the range and endurance of US combat aircraft, were damaged or destroyed. One crashed in Iraq on 12 March during a refuelling mission, killing all six crew members; five others were damaged on the ground by Iranian missiles and drones in Saudi Arabia. A seventh aircraft was also involved in the Iraq incident and is included in the broader loss count.

E-3 Sentry: At least one of these airborne early-warning and control aircraft was damaged on the ground at Saudi Arabia’s Prince Sultan airbase in a subsequent Iranian strike.

HH-60W helicopter: At least one of these four-blade, twin-engine, medium-lift utility military helicopters was damaged by Iranian fire during a combat search and rescue mission.

MQ-4C Triton: At least one of these $240m high-altitude, long-endurance unmanned surveillance aircraft, designed primarily for maritime intelligence and surveillance, crashed in April.

AH-6 helicopter: The US forces destroyed four of these small, highly manoeuvrable helicopters after they were deemed unrecoverable during a combat search and rescue operation in Iran.

AH-64 Apache: At least one of these twin-engine, four-bladed attack helicopters, built with a tandem cockpit for a crew of two, was shot down near the Strait of Hormuz on 8 June.

MH-60S: At least one of these US Navy multi-role helicopters crashed in the Arabian Sea on 1 July. Three of the four crew were wounded and rescued, while the fourth was listed as missing.

MQ-9 Reaper: As many as 30 of these long-endurance armed unmanned aircraft used for surveillance, intelligence gathering, and precision strikes were destroyed.

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The Iranian military has claimed to have inflicted further damage on US assets, shooting down surveillance and attack drones near the Strait of Hormuz several times. Tehran also captured a US submersible Dive-LD earlier this month.

What losses did US military bases suffer in the region?

The report further underlined the assertion by the US Central Command (CENTCOM) that Iranian attacks damaged and destroyed hundreds of buildings and structures at US military installations in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman, and Jordan during the conflict.

It did not provide any additional detail or specifics on these damages.

From previous reporting, we know that several US facilities were temporarily shut down or moved due to Iranian attacks.

The report noted that the “establishment of adequate naval bases and support ports posed significant challenges before and during” the US military campaign against Iran, “arising from complexities and due to uncertainties with host nation access permissions to utilize ports for fleet resupply”.

“An issue with shifting logistics support and infrastructure to Diego Garcia has been distance, with extended sea transit requiring 14- to 18-day logistics cycles,” the report quoted CENTCOM as saying.

How Iranian attacks damaged US diplomatic facilities in the Gulf

The watchdog’s report noted that the US diplomatic facilities in four countries: Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, suffered damage from Iranian attacks, with an estimated total cost of $184m.

In addition, Washington incurred an estimated cost of $24.5m per month in construction project delays due to ordered departures and travel restrictions in Baghdad, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Cairo, Amman, Kuwait City, and Muscat.

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Iraq

The report quoted the US Department of State as saying the Iraq mission faced more than 600 attacks until the end of June, costing up to nearly $157m.

The US Consulate General in Erbil’s new consulate compound suffered damage to multiple buildings. The US Embassy in Baghdad suffered damage “but to a lesser extent”, the report said, adding that the Baghdad Diplomatic Support Center, located near Baghdad International Airport, suffered extensive damage.

Kuwait

On 5 March, the US Embassy in Kuwait City suspended operations due to “regional tensions”, attacks, and damage to embassy facilities, the report said, costing nearly $14.75m.

Saudi Arabia

On 3 March, two Iranian drones struck the US Embassy in Riyadh, causing material damage, costing about $11.5m.

UAE

The US Consulate General in Dubai sustained damage to a utility building, the US State Department reported, costing nearly $120,000.