The United States has lost, or had damaged, at least 81 military fighter jets, surveillance aircraft, helicopters and drones since the war with Iran began. The total financial loss comes to about $3.3 billion. The figures are from a report by the US Congressional Research Service (CRS), NDTV reports online.
The report, titled US Aircraft Combat Damage in Operation Epic Fury: Considerations for Congress, shows that Washington’s damaged and destroyed aircraft include the highly advanced fifth-generation F-35A Lightning II stealth fighter, F-15 fighter jets and MQ-9 Reaper drones.
Each F-15 is worth more than $30 million, while each of the 45 MQ-9 Reaper drones costs an estimated $30 million to $50 million. Each destroyed F-35A stealth aircraft is worth more than $92 million.
According to the report, US forces operating in the Middle East have lost 12 F-15E aircraft, one F-35A Lightning II, two A-10 Thunderbolt II ground-attack aircraft and seven KC-135 Stratotanker aerial refuelling aircraft. Of these, three F-15s were shot down by friendly fire over Kuwait on 2 March, and another fighter was shot down in Iranian airspace the following month.
Eight more F-15Es were damaged in Iranian air strikes on the Muwaffaq Salti air base in Jordan on 9 and 10 September.
The US military has also lost an E-3 Sentry airborne warning and control aircraft (each worth $270 million), two MC-130J Commando II special operations aircraft, an HH-60W rescue helicopter, an MQ-4C Triton drone, three MQ-1 multi-role drones and 45 MQ-9 Reaper drones. Among military helicopters, an AH-64 Apache attack helicopter, four AH-6 Little Birds and an MH-60 Seahawk maritime helicopter have been damaged or destroyed.
The report cautions that the figures may change, as military operations are continuing and much military information remains highly classified. It notes that some damaged aircraft may be returned to the fleet after repair.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, the cost of the weapons used by US forces in Iran jumped in the past month from $21.7 billion to $28.1 billion. Neither the White House nor the Pentagon has commented officially on the report.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report