WSJ: US estimates up to $2.9 billion in military losses in Iran war so far

The first three weeks of the ongoing U.S.-Israeli military campaign in Iran have caused an estimated $1.4 billion to $2.9 billion in losses and damage to advanced military equipment, according to Elaine McCusker, a former Pentagon budget official tracking the conflict for the American Enterprise Institute. The higher estimate includes damage to a Qatari radar housed on a U.S. air base.

The losses span aircraft, drones, and critical radar and communications systems across the region, according to the figired by the Wall Street Journal. 

On March 1, a Kuwaiti F/A-18 Hornet mistakenly shot down three American F-15E Strike Eagles, though all six crew members ejected safely. Replacement F-15s cost roughly $100 million each. An F-35A stealth fighter made an emergency landing on March 19 after Iran claimed to have targeted it; each F-35A costs about $82.5 million.

The U.S. Air Force also suffered losses to KC-135 Stratotankers, with six crew members killed after a midair collision over Iraq and five more aircraft damaged during an Iranian missile strike in Saudi Arabia. Boeing has not produced KC-135s since the 1960s, and replacements will likely be the $165 million KC-46 Pegasus tankers.

More than a dozen MQ-9 Reaper drones have been destroyed or damaged, including at least eight shot down by Iranian missiles and three destroyed on the ground. Replacement costs range from $16 million for current models to $30 million for newer MQ-9B SkyGuardians.

Critical radar systems have also been targeted. Iran struck an AN/TPY-2 radar in Jordan used for THAAD missile defense, valued at $300 million, and damaged early-warning and air defense systems in Qatar, the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia, including Qatar’s $1 billion AN/FPS-132 radar at Al-Udeid Air Base.

By Sabina Mammadli