The U.S. has lost or sustained damage to 81 fighter jets, helicopters and drones over the course of the war with Iran, according to a new report from Congress.
The numbers were tallied in a Tuesday report from the Congressional Research Service, which cited news reports, statements from the Department of Defense and U.S. Central Command, and a report from the Pentagon’s Inspector General.
The list includes 49 drones, 13 fighter aircraft, seven refueling aircraft, seven helicopters, two ground attack aircraft, two special operations aircraft, and a reconnaissance aircraft.
According to the congressional office, 81 fixed-wing or rotary-wing aircraft and uncrewed aircraft systems have been lost or damaged in Iranian strikes on bases in Saudi Arabia and Jordan, flight accidents over the Middle East or during rescue missions.
Federal government assessments on U.S. equipment losses and damages in the Iran war have come from the Inspector General and the Congressional Budget Office. However, the congressional office noted that it had to resort to public source information and reporting because the Pentagon did not respond to its inquiries.
Both reports looked at different timelines of U.S. combat operations against Iran, but estimated that the war has totaled more than $33 billion in costs. The Inspector General reported equipment losses at $3.7 billion and the Congressional Budget Office estimated the equipment losses falling between $1.9 billion and $3.3 billion, depending on replacements.
Among the United States’ fighter jets that cost tens of millions of dollars and take years to develop, the losses have included a dozen F-15E Strike Eagle fighters destroyed by Iranian strikes on bases and friendly fire incidents and one F-35A Lightning II fighter aircraft that was destroyed by Iranian ground forces.
The list also includes aircraft used for supporting missions, like an E-3 Sentry — used for tracking missiles and other air threats — which was destroyed at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. In the large-scale effort to rescue a downed F-15E pilot from Iran that involved U.S. commandos and an overnight extraction, an Air Force HH-60W Jolly Green II combat search-and-rescue helicopter was also damaged.
Seven KC-135 Stratotanker aerial refueling aircraft were also destroyed at the base, and two more KC-135s were involved in a crash in Iraq, which killed six soldiers. Air & Space Forces Magazine reported that six KC-135 Stratotankers that were damaged would return to service, which was noted in the congressional report.
Iran has also shot down dozens of uncrewed aircraft, with the U.S. losing a total of 45 MQ-9 Reaper drones, three MQ-1s, and a MQ-4C Triton.
The report indicates several actions that Congress could take to address the losses, such as funding replacement and repairs for lost or damaged aircraft, seeking supply chain assessments for replacing aircraft from contractors, or potentially scaling back foreign military sales to meet the U.S. military’s own needs.
Lawmakers could also look at plussing up the fleet of critical but limited aircraft like the E-3 Sentry and reconsidering U.S. posture, military tactics and overall how the “reported losses reflect changes in the threat environment or in adversary capabilities.”
One of the findings from the Congressional Budget Office report was that operations related to the war posed significant risks to U.S. munitions stockpiles, especially missile interceptors and other critical assets for defending Taiwan in a war against China.
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