War with Iran: 81 US aircraft destroyed or damaged, Congressional Research Service says

At least 81 US aircraft, crewed, helicopters and drones, have been lost or damaged in operations against Iran, according to the updated tally of the Congressional Research Service (CRS) dated October 5. The previous version, from May, listed 42. The figures were also summarised by AeroTime.

The tally draws on Pentagon data, CENTCOM announcements, inspectors general findings and press reports since February 28. The increase does not necessarily mean new losses since May, because the count changes as new information emerges.

Drones and fighters

Uncrewed aircraft account for the largest losses: 45 MQ-9 Reapers and three MQ-1s were lost in operations, while an MQ-4C Triton crashed in an accident. Twelve F-15E Strike Eagles were affected: three were shot down by friendly fire over Kuwait, one was lost over Iran and eight suffered light damage in an Iranian missile strike on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan before returning to service.

Iranian ground fire damaged one F-35A, and two A-10s were lost or seriously damaged. Seven KC-135 tankers were affected, among them one that crashed in Iraq with six dead and five that were damaged on the ground in Saudi Arabia. One E-3 Sentry was hit directly, two MC-130Js were deliberately destroyed during a rescue operation, and seven helicopters, among them AH-64 Apaches and AH-6 Little Birds, were lost or damaged.

The cost

An Inspector General report in September estimated the total cost of the campaign at $33.4 billion through the end of June, including $3.7 billion in equipment losses, while the Congressional Budget Office estimated replacement costs of up to $3.3 billion. CRS notes that the figures may be revised because of classification, ongoing operations and attribution issues. The Pentagon has not published a full list of losses.