OMM Redaksiyası
At least 81 US fixed-wing, rotary-wing and uncrewed aircraft were lost or damaged during military operations against Iran, according to a report by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service (CRS).
The compilation covers incidents recorded since Feb. 28 and draws on Pentagon records, statements by US Central Command, military inspector general findings and press reports.
Uncrewed aircraft account for many of the losses: 45 MQ-9 Reaper drones and three MQ-1 multi-role aircraft were downed during operations. An MQ-4C Triton also crashed in a flight mishap.
Twelve F-15E Strike Eagle fighters were affected. Three were destroyed by friendly fire over Kuwait, one was downed over Iran, and eight sustained light damage in an Iranian missile strike on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan. The eight later returned to service.
Iranian ground fire damaged an F-35A Lightning II, while two A-10 Thunderbolt II ground-attack aircraft were lost or heavily damaged.
Support aircraft were also affected. Seven KC-135 Stratotankers were involved, including one that crashed in Iraq, killing six crew members, and five reportedly damaged on the ground in Saudi Arabia.
An E-3 Sentry early-warning aircraft took a direct hit. Two MC-130J special operations transports were deliberately destroyed during a rescue mission, and seven military helicopters, including AH-64 Apache and AH-6 Little Bird models, were lost or damaged.
The disclosures come as the financial cost of the war, which began on Feb. 28 with coordinated US-Israeli strikes, rises. A September report by the Lead Inspector General estimated campaign expenses at $33.4 billion through late June, including $3.7 billion in equipment losses. The Congressional Budget Office projected hardware replacement costs of up to $3.3 billion.
The CRS cautioned that the aircraft count could be revised because of classification, ongoing combat activity and uncertainty over attribution.
