According to a congressional report, the U.S. has lost or damaged 42 aircraft during the Iran War, pushing the Department of War’s cost estimate for the operations to $29 billion.
The report emerges just days after Acting Pentagon Comptroller Jules W. Hurst III testified at a 12 May hearing that the department’s cost estimate for military operations in Iran had risen to $29 billion.
Three of the aircraft downed by friendly fire over Kuwait were confirmed to have caused an estimated $300 million in damage alone. The report, filed by the Congressional Research Service, corroborated earlier reports regarding the cost of the jets brought down over Kuwait in March.
The new report catalogues every aircraft lost or damaged throughout the conflict.
Four are identified as F-15E Strike Eagles — an older model with expensive replacement parts. A single F-15E Strike Eagle costs approximately $90 to $125 million per unit, according to Air Force estimates. Three were shot down over Kuwait in a friendly fire incident, while a fourth was downed over Iran as U.S. and Israeli forces raced to recover pilots and crew unharmed.
The military also lost one F-35A Lightning II, valued at approximately $82.5 million, an A-10 Thunderbolt II — commonly known as the “Warthog” — worth approximately $13.4 million, and seven KC-135 Stratotanker aerial refuelling aircraft, each valued at between $65 million and $79 million.
Twenty-four MQ-9 Reaper medium-altitude long-endurance uncrewed aircraft were brought down or damaged in unspecified circumstances, according to the report.
A single one of these aircraft costs roughly $30 million to $34 million for the plane alone, but with a complete “flyaway system,” including drone, sensors, Ground Control Stations, and satellite links, runs to around $56.5 million per craft.
