Iran Destroyed US Military Equipment Worth Billions, Says Think Tank
Alia Chughtai
Iranian missile and drone attacks have destroyed US military equipment valued at between $2.3 billion and $2.8 billion since the war began in late February, according to a Washington-based research institute. The estimate, the first detailed accounting by a major international research group, was compiled by CSIS senior adviser Mark Cancian. The losses include a radar surveillance aircraft worth $700 million and a THAAD system radar, with some damage from friendly fire.
During a televised cabinet meeting on March 26, the US defense secretary boasted of military success against Iran, claiming no army had ever been neutralized so quickly and effectively. The very next day, however, Iran launched missile and drone strikes on a US base in Saudi Arabia, injuring several soldiers and destroying a radar surveillance aircraft worth $700 million.
According to calculations by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Iranian attacks, combined with one friendly-fire incident, have destroyed US military equipment worth between $2.3 billion and $2.8 billion. This estimate is the first detailed accounting by a major international research group of US losses in the war that began on February 28, as first reported by Al Jazeera.
Mark Cancian, a senior adviser at CSIS who conducted the calculations, said the figure does not include damage to US bases in the region, specialized equipment, or naval vessels. He is also reviewing damage to bases in the Persian Gulf, but has struggled because satellite imagery has been blocked since February 28 at the request of the US government, though Iranian satellite images remain available.
Some losses came from friendly fire, with three F-15 aircraft shot down in Kuwait in early March. Most of the destroyed US aircraft and radars were caused by Iranian attacks. On March 1, the US lost at least one powerful missile defense radar from the THAAD system, with an estimated bill of $485 million to $970 million. On March 27, the strike on Prince Sultan Air Base in eastern Saudi Arabia destroyed an E-3 AWACS/E7 radar detection aircraft worth $700 million, an airborne command center capable of detecting aircraft and missiles hundreds of kilometers away.
Omar Ashour, a professor of security and military studies at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, noted that the US administration is unlikely to fully disclose losses for political reasons. He cited US history of tactical victories in Vietnam and Afghanistan but strategic defeats. With Iran, the strategic goal is regime change and denuclearization, but the current US force is less than one-tenth the size of the force that invaded Iraq in 2003.
Regarding Iran’s response, Cancian said he was surprised by the decision to attack Gulf states, calling it a strategic mistake that has pushed them closer to the US. He also said the US failure to keep the Strait of Hormuz open is a reminder of naval unpreparedness. Ashour added that Iran has also suffered heavy losses, but its navy has been degraded, not destroyed, and it can still fight at sea without a blue-water fleet.
