US military has lost or damaged 81 aircraft in Iran war, report says

The United States has lost or damaged at least 81 military aircraft since the war in Iran began, racking up an estimated $3.3 billion in hardware losses, according to a new report from the Congressional Research Service.

The losses span some of the Pentagon's most sophisticated aviation assets, from cutting-edge stealth fighters to heavy-duty surveillance platforms and a substantial portion of its drone fleet. Among the casualties is a single F-35A Lightning II stealth fighter, which was damaged by Iranian fire on 19 March, and an ageing but vital E-3 Sentry spy plane valued at $270 million.

The single heaviest hit to US capabilities has been felt by the MQ-9 Reaper drone fleet. The report reveals the US has lost at least 45 of the multi-role drones, which are used for both reconnaissance and missile strikes and cost between $30 million and $50 million each.

These losses have eaten deeply into American stockpiles. An Air Force general informed the Senate in May that the operational Reaper fleet had fallen to just 135 aircraft. The Air Force is typically required to keep at least 189 of the drones deployable at any given time.

Tactical jet and helicopter losses

Tactical jet fleets have also taken a beating. The military has recorded 12 F-15E Strike Eagle fighters as lost or damaged. The losses include a friendly-fire incident over Kuwait on 2 March, where three of the F-15s—worth over $30 million each—were shot down. Another was lost over Iran the following month. Eight other F-15Es sustained minor damage during Iranian airstrikes on the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan on 9 and 10 September, though all eight have since been repaired and returned to service.

Other losses detailed in the congressional analysis include two A-10 Thunderbolt II ground-attack jets—one destroyed in April and another damaged in the Jordan strikes—alongside seven KC-135 Stratotanker refuelling aircraft, two MC-130J Commando II special operations transports, and an array of helicopters. These include an HH-60W Jolly Green II search-and-rescue helicopter, an AH-64 Apache, four AH-6 Little Birds, and an MH-60 Seahawk. One high-altitude MQ-4C Triton drone and three older MQ-1 drones were also lost.

The rising cost of the war

The staggering hardware toll reflects the rapidly rising financial scale of the conflict. Last month, US Central Command estimated that the total cost of the war in Iran had reached $43.6 billion, a leap of $5 billion from the previous month's estimate.

Much of that surge has been driven by the sheer volume of ordnance being used. Weapons expenditure alone has jumped to $28.1 billion, up from the $21.7 billion previously estimated by the Congressional Budget Office. The White House and the Pentagon have not yet commented on the report's findings.