Illustrative image. (X)
A Congressional report released on May 19 revealed that the United States military lost at least 42 aircraft during 40 days of war on Iran.
The report, prepared for Congress using information from the Pentagon, United States Central Command, and defense media outlets, estimated the total cost of the aircraft losses at approximately $2.6 billion. The aerial losses include fighter jets, surveillance aircraft, refueling planes, combat rescue helicopters, and drones.
Among the aircraft destroyed or damaged, according to the document, were four F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jets, one F-35A Lightning II stealth fighter jet, one A-10 Thunderbolt II attack jet, seven KC-135 Stratotanker refueling planes, and one E-3 Sentry airborne warning and control aircraft.
The report also listed the loss of two MC-130J Commando II special operations transport planes, one HH-60W Jolly Green II special operations helicopter, 24 MQ-9 Reaper combat drones, and one MQ-4C Triton high altitude surveillance naval drone.
Replacing some of the destroyed aircraft could require restarting production lines for systems that are no longer manufactured, the document said.
It also noted that the destruction of an E-3 Sentry could force the Pentagon to revive the cancelled E-7 Wedgetail replacement program at a cost exceeding $2.5 billion.
Analysts cited in the document estimated that total aircraft losses and replacement programs could eventually exceed $7 billion.
The number confirmed by the Congressional report is still short of the 56 U.S. military aircraft documented in Wikipedia’s list of aviation shootdowns and accidents during the Iran war, which only counts losses based on visual evidence or official self-admission.
Commenting on the report, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that the document confirmed the Islamic Republic’s ability to inflict serious damage on the U.S. military.
“Months after initiation of war on Iran, US Congress acknowledges loss of dozens of aircraft worth billions,” Araghchi wrote on X.
“Our powerful Armed Forces are confirmed as first to strike down a touted F-35,” he added, warning that any future conflict would feature “many more surprises.”
Of course, the Congressional report shed light on only one side of U.S. military losses during the war on Iran. In addition to aerial losses, billions worth of air defense, radar and communication systems throughout the Middle East were destroyed or damaged by Iranian missile and drone strikes.
The total cost of the 40 days of war on the Islamic Republic is reported to be around $25 billion. With peace deal reached yet, this may not be the final cost.
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ha ha!
washington needed a good punch in the face. israel too. zionist mafias. and by god if they attack iran again i hope half their face is removed.
uncle sam will lose even more when they dare to attack iran again.
i am shocked any admission is offered . iran and nukes occupy globalist media conversations. i believe nuclear is the only option left for the greater israel project to deploy. all must understand this option is always under planning and consideration. when has reason stopped the globalist pirate regime from any actions ?
the u.s. military admits to most things. sen. john kennedy (not military) said: “sorry, it was a mistake.” unlike other nations. i speculate tactical nuclear weapons have already been used in the past 25 years. blame the radiation on d.u. shells. please understand when you say globalist. you’re entering “xi for life.” “the multi-polar world order” aka “new world order”… people in silk suits have been planning global dominance for many decades. they have no nation. they’re globalist.
couldn’t fit: john kennedy in reference to the girls school in persia, i mean iran.
i remember daily/weekly reporting on the losses. i knew it was 40 already, quite a few were destroyed while on the ground. the refuel and surveillance craft. a dozen at once. reuters recently came out with an article, calling the saudi-pakistan defense pact “secret.” but we already knew about it. 80 000 troops available. but will russia admit they sent soldiers to the ukraine with mosin 91/30 pu’s?
more than half were drones too. and ~42 includes friendly fire. the great war 100 years ago there were days when 10’s of thousands died in a day at one location. let’s avoid that.
and now imagine if russia and china would have created a supply and recon support line for iran mirroring the ukraine one of the west.
russia is buying quite a few drones. they’ve been using the caspian sea the whole time. russia and china are large, but not n.a.t.o. / e.u. large. the number of nations/production and the u.n. bias. towards globalists. which is neither side. all interesting factors. b.r.i.c.s. has shown what it can do recently.
u.n. bias, being: other than russia/china and just enough other vetos or non-votes to do anything either way, the war continues. and then there is the push for ukraine to be in the e.u. (which is globalist. unelected people in belgium?) and n.a.t.o. is funny now. with america being very strong armed, turkey is doing whatever they want. + it’s all a stage. solve world hunger with 300 billion a year. (i think that’s current usd)