Satellite images suggest US comm dome destroyed in Qatar base strike

An analysis of satellite imagery suggests that the Iranian strike on the US military air base in Qatar likely hit a geodesic dome housing secure communications equipment used by American forces.

The analysis was conducted by the Associated Press (AP) and detailed in their July 11 article, as reported by Caliber.Az.

Satellite images from Planet Labs PBC show the geodesic dome still intact at Al Udeid Air Base on the morning of June 23—just hours before the attack. However, images from June 25 onward show the dome missing, with visible damage to a nearby building. The remainder of the base appears largely unaffected.

According to the AP’s analysis, a fragment or object apparently struck the dome, which had been commissioned by the US Army in 2016 for $15 million and is known as a modernized enterprise terminal. The article notes that the extent of the damage suggests the strike was likely Iranian, possibly involving a bomb-carrying drone, given the limited visible impact on surrounding structures.

It further adds that the London-based satellite news outlet Iran International was the first to report the damage, citing imagery from another provider.

The AP reports that neither the US military nor Qatari officials responded to requests for comment, and the damage has not been publicly acknowledged. The Iranian strike on Al Udeid Air Base, located near Doha, Qatar’s capital, took place on June 23. It was reportedly in retaliation for American airstrikes on three nuclear facilities in Tehran and served as a catalyst for a ceasefire mediated by US President Donald Trump, ending the 12-day Iran-Israel conflict.

Aside from the hit on the dome, the Iranian strike caused minimal damage—largely because the US had evacuated aircraft from the base, which also hosts the forward headquarters of US Central Command. Trump has stated that Iran provided advance notice of the timing and nature of the retaliation, allowing US and Qatari air defences to prepare. The attack briefly disrupted regional air travel but did not escalate into the broader conflict many analysts feared.

At the time, Trump dismissed the strike as a “very weak response,” revealing that Iran launched 14 missiles, 13 of which were intercepted. The remaining missile was “set free” as it was headed in a “nonthreatening” direction.

Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, however, claimed the air base was the “target of a destructive and powerful missile attack,” while the Supreme National Security Council asserted the base had been “smashed,” though it offered no concrete damage assessments.

Separately, an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei claimed the base’s communications had been disconnected by the attack which the AP interprets as a potentially signalling that he was aware the dome had been hit. “All equipment of the base was completely destroyed and now the US command stream and connection from Al Udeid base to its other military bases have been completely cut,” said Ahmad Alamolhoda, a hard-line cleric.

By Nazrin Sadigova