Since the United States and Israel began striking thousands of targets inside Iran three weeks ago, billions of dollars worth of high-tech military equipment has been destroyed or severely damaged. Most of the losses on the ground were caused by Iranian ballistic missiles and drones.
Elaine McCusker, a former senior Pentagon budget official during the first Trump administration who now tracks the conflict's costs for the American Enterprise Institute, stated that combat losses and equipment replacement costs for the first three weeks of the war are estimated to be between $1.4 billion and $2.9 billion. The higher estimate includes the loss of a Qatari radar system located at a US Air Force base in Qatar.
The following are some of the weapons and platforms the Pentagon may seek to replace as part of a potential $200 billion supplemental funding request for Iran operations submitted to the White House.
On March 1, a Kuwaiti F/A-18 Hornet fighter jet mistakenly shot down three US F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft. All six crew members safely ejected. A new F-15 fighter currently costs approximately $100 million.
On March 12, an Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker aerial refueling aircraft crashed over Iraq after colliding with another KC-135, resulting in the deaths of all six crew members. Five additional KC-135s were damaged in an Iranian missile attack on Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. The damaged aircraft are undergoing repairs. Boeing has not produced the KC-135 since the 1960s, so the Air Force is most likely to replace the lost aircraft with the KC-46 Pegasus tanker, which is based on a modified 767 airliner. A KC-46 costs approximately $165 million.
More than ten MQ-9 Reaper drones have been lost since the war began. This includes at least eight shot down by Iranian missiles, three destroyed on the ground by Iranian missiles, and one mistakenly shot down by a Persian Gulf nation. Additional Reaper drones have been damaged. The MQ-9 model used by the Air Force costs at least $16 million per unit, and manufacturer General Atomics no longer produces this version. The newer MQ-9B SkyGuardian is currently in production for the US and its allies, costing approximately $30 million per unit.
On March 12, a fire broke out on the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, unrelated to combat. The fire started in the main laundry facility and spread to other areas of the ship, including sailor berthings. The carrier is currently docked in Souda Bay, Greece for repairs.
Iran attacked an AN/TPY-2 radar belonging to a "THAAD" missile defense system located in Jordan. This radar is used for tracking ballistic missiles and costs at least $300 million.
Iran also targeted radar, communication, and air defense systems in Qatar, the UAE, Jordan, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia. This included damage to Qatar's AN/FPS-132 early warning radar at Al Udeid Air Base. This radar can track multiple targets simultaneously and costs approximately $1 billion.
Comments