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A report issued by the US Congressional Research Service this week showed that the US armed forces have lost or sustained damage to 81 aircraft during the war with Iran, a toll that includes airplanes, helicopters, and drones.
According to the report, which was published by CNN, MQ-9 Reaper drones accounted for more than half of the losses; they are used for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions, close air support, and combat search and rescue.
The losses also included some of the most prominent aircraft owned by the US military, including an F-35A fighter jet and an E-3 Sentry, which is equipped with a large radar dome atop its fuselage and is used for tracking targets and managing airspace.
The Congressional Research Service estimated the cost of the destroyed or damaged aircraft at between $1.9 billion and $3.3 billion, based on figures from the Congressional Budget Office and according to US Department of Defense plans to replace the damaged or destroyed aircraft.
However, the total cost of the war is much higher, as sources told CNN that it has reached at least $45 billion, without counting the damage to infrastructure at US bases in the region, including the bases where some of the aircraft were lost.
The report noted that some of the aircraft included in the count may have been returned to service, including eight F-15 Strike Eagle fighters that sustained minor damage during an Iranian strike that targeted Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan in September.
The Congressional Research Service report is based on figures contained in data from the US Department of Defense, the Department's Office of Inspector General, and US Central Command, which handles operations against Iran, in addition to media reports reviewed by the report's authors.
The report raises a set of questions for Congress, including whether the Department of Defense is providing sufficient information about the losses to enable lawmakers to assess their impact and determine ways to address them.
The US Department of Defense has not yet provided detailed information regarding the scale of losses during the war with Iran. Even the Department's Inspector General report on losses, which was issued in September and covered operations between February 28 and June 30, relied in some aircraft loss figures on previous reports by the Congressional Research Service.
The report also raises questions regarding the need for Congress to allocate funds to repair or replace aircraft, the ability of the US defense industrial base to meet these needs, and the implications of this for US arms sales to partners abroad.
The report also addresses the impact of the war with Iran on US military deployment outside the Middle East, warning that the loss of some high-demand, low-density platforms, such as the aging E-3 Sentry aircraft, could lead to gaps in military capabilities or increase risks in other areas of operation.
Regarding drones, the report noted that US operations in the Middle East, including the war with Iran and previous confrontations with the Houthi group in Yemen, have caused significant losses to MQ-9 Reaper aircraft.
According to a report issued by the Atlantic Council in September, US forces have lost 45 aircraft of this model in the Middle East during the current year, a rate the report described as "alarming."
US Air Force Chief of Staff General Kenneth Wilsbach had described the MQ-9 Reaper before Congress earlier this year as the "most valuable player" in the war with Iran.
The Atlantic Council noted that the US Air Force has lost about 35 percent of the MQ-9 Reapers it has possessed since 2004.
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