WP: Iran war costs US military roughly 25% of its Reaper drone fleet

The U.S. military has lost at least 45 MQ-9 Reaper drones since the start of its war with Iran, equivalent to roughly a quarter of its pre-war fleet, according to three U.S. officials familiar with Pentagon data, The Washington Post reports.

The losses highlight growing pressure on the US military’s weapons inventory as the conflict with Iran continues to consume drones, missiles and air-defence interceptors.

The Reaper, used for surveillance and targeted strikes, costs between $30 million and $50 million depending on its configuration, putting the potential value of the lost aircraft at more than $1.3 billion.

The drones have been heavily deployed around the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global shipping route that has become a major flashpoint in the conflict. Their relatively slow speed and frequent operation at low altitude have also made them vulnerable to Iranian forces and their regional proxies in Yemen and Iraq.

Not all of the losses were caused by enemy fire, however. A fourth U.S. official said an unspecified number of Reapers crashed after operators lost communications links with the aircraft.

The scale of the losses is particularly significant because the U.S. military had approximately 185 Reapers before the conflict — 165 operated by the Air Force and 20 by the Marine Corps. None of the Marine Corps aircraft have been lost, according to a service spokesman.

The Air Force had already reported a sharp decline in its available Reapers. In May, Lt. Gen. David Tabor told the Senate that the number of remaining aircraft had fallen to about 135 and said the service was examining ways to replenish the fleet.

The drone losses come as other elements of the US arsenal face heavy demands. During the first month of the Iran campaign, American forces fired more than 850 Tomahawk cruise missiles and more than 1,000 Patriot and THAAD interceptors, further reducing stocks of weapons that are central to long-range strikes and air defence.

The resulting shortages are placing additional constraints on US military planning. Commanders in the region have reportedly adjusted defensive tactics and, in some cases, reserved interceptors when they assess that an incoming Iranian missile is unlikely to cause casualties or significant damage.

The Pentagon has denied that its weapons stocks are running dangerously low, while the Trump administration has sought tens of billions of dollars from Congress to cover the costs of the war and replenish depleted supplies. The administration is seeking a $67 billion supplemental package for the Iran conflict.

Even if Congress approves the funding, rebuilding depleted stocks could take years. A recent analysis by the American Enterprise Institute found that production capacity for several critical munitions remains far below the Pentagon’s requirements.

THAAD interceptors are a particular concern. The Missile Defence Agency can currently produce a maximum of 96 a year, while the Pentagon is seeking 857 in next year’s defence budget and nearly 2,600 over five years. At current production rates, meeting that demand would take about 27 years, according to the report.

The Reaper fleet itself is also approaching a transition point. The Pentagon is phasing out the General Atomics-produced aircraft and plans to replace it with a cheaper generation of armed surveillance drones designed to operate in swarms.

For Washington, the losses underscore a broader challenge: sustaining a high-intensity military campaign while simultaneously replenishing weapons consumed in Iran and meeting existing commitments to support Ukraine. The scale and speed of replenishment will depend not only on congressional funding but also on whether the US defence industry can expand production quickly enough to meet military demand.

By Aghakazim Guliyev