A new report from the Congressional Research Service has found that at least 81 US military aircraft have been damaged or lost in the Iran war since it was launched by the US and Israel on February 28.
The report’s authors said the tally was compiled from statements by the Pentagon, US Central Command, the Pentagon Inspector General, and news reports, and that the “number of aircraft may remain subject to revision due to multiple factors.” The CRS published a similar report in May that put the number of aircraft damaged or lost at 42.
The list from the new report includes both unmanned and manned aircraft that were damaged or destroyed by Iranian attacks on US bases, shot down or damaged by Iranian fire, or lost in accidents, friendly-fire incidents, or other unspecified incidents. The majority were MQ-9 Reaper drones, which are extremely vulnerable to air defenses. Of the 81 aircraft listed in the report, 45 were MQ-9s.
The full list includes:
- 45 MQ-9 Reapers
- 12 F-15E Strike Eagles
- 7 KC-135 Stratotankers
- 4 AH-6 Little Birds
- 3 MQ-1 drones
- 2 A-10 Thunderbolt IIs
- 2 MC-130J Commando IIs
- 1 F-35A Lightning II
- 1 E-3 Sentry
- 1 HH-60W Jolly Green II
- 1 MQ-4C Triton
- 1 AH-64 Apache
- 1 MH-60 Sea Hawk
The report said that in September, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated the cost of equipment losses as of August 1 at between $1.9 billion and $3.3 billion, but the actual cost to replace the aircraft would be much higher. The Washington Times estimated that, based on calculations using federal unit costs for 73 of the 81 aircraft, replacing them would cost $5.1 billion.
