Reports say Iran destroyed nearly 100 US aircraft

Breaking Points posted a YouTube video titled “Nearly 100 US Aircraft DESTROYED By Iran.” Hosts Emily and Saagar discuss reports that nearly 100 U.S. aircraft were taken out by Iran, the channel’s description says.

A Congressional Research Service report released October 5 counts 81 U.S. aircraft lost or damaged in the war with Iran. That figure nearly doubles the 42 listed in the service’s May edition. Brad Lendon reported the update, drawing on the nonpartisan research arm of Congress. The CRS tally mixes destroyed airframes with damaged ones and relies on Defense Department statements, the inspector general, U.S. Central Command and news accounts. Aaron Spray and Tim de Vries, writing separately on the same report, both stress that not every entry was a shoot-down.

MQ-9 Reapers dominate the list. Forty-five of them appear, up from 24 in May. Three U.S. officials cited by The Washington Post on August 13 put the Reaper losses at “at least 45.” A September Atlantic Council report called the rate “alarming.” Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach told Congress the MQ-9A was the military’s “most valuable player” in the fighting. On May 13, Lt. Gen. David Tabor testified the service was “concerned about how they’ve attrited.” Air Force officials have said the drone “was not designed for operation in a future highly contested environment.”

Twelve F-15E Strike Eagles sit on the CRS roster. Four were destroyed. Kuwaiti air defenses shot down three over Kuwait on March 2 in a friendly-fire incident during combat that also involved Iranian aircraft, ballistic missiles and drones; all six crew members ejected and were recovered, according to Central Command accounts carried in the reporting. A fourth F-15E was destroyed over Iran and its crew later rescued. Eight more F-15Es took light damage in an Iranian strike on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan in September. Lendon wrote that some aircraft in the overall count may have been returned to service, including those eight.

One F-35A Lightning II was damaged by ground fire over Iran; the pilot landed safely. Two A-10 Thunderbolts are listed: one shot down, its pilot ejecting, and one severely damaged at Muwaffaq Salti. Seven KC-135 Stratotankers appear. One crashed in western Iraq on March 12, killing all six crew, while a second made an emergency landing in the same incident. Five more were damaged on the ground at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. An E-3 Sentry was hit there and reporting compiled by Spray and de Vries says it may be beyond repair.