At least 81 U.S. military aircraft, including fighter jets and drones, were lost or damaged during the U.S. government’s military campaign against Iran, code-named Operation Epic Fury, launched earlier this year.
The statistics were released as part of a report released Monday by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), a nonpartisan government agency that provides budget-related research to Congress.
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The report estimated that as of August 1, the cost of US aircraft losses during the US-Israel war against Iran was between $1.9 billion and $3.3 billion.
This week’s report highlights the growing costs of the war that began on February 28. As the conflict enters its eighth month, a durable ceasefire remains elusive.
“The asymmetric nature of war shows that even a small country with a small military can inflict damage on the world’s most powerful military,” said Harlan Ullmann, a former naval officer and chairman of government advisory firm Killowen Group.
He told Al Jazeera that Iran has had some success in damaging U.S. military facilities and bases in the Middle East.
“Iran has a number of available U.S. targets, and you can imagine what small drones can do to key military assets. We’ve seen examples of that in the Gulf states during the conflict,” Ullman explained.
Monday’s report listed 12 F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jets, one F-35A Lightning II fighter jet, and seven KC-135 Stratotanker tanker planes among the affected aircraft. Of the 81 aircraft identified in the report, 45 were MQ-9 Reaper drones.
The evolving nature of war
Experts like Ullman say part of America’s vulnerability lies in the changing nature of modern warfare, which has become increasingly reliant on widespread, low-cost unmanned aircraft.
Many point to Russia’s war against Ukraine as an example of how a small force like Kiev can hold off a larger enemy through drone warfare.
There were also rumors of a possible drone attack on Royal Air Force (RAF) Fairford, a British base that housed US assets during the Iran war, with 12 US military planes suddenly departing on Sunday.
Ullman pointed to these cases as examples of how the threat of drone attacks can be effective in putting large militaries on the defensive.
“We’ve seen how the US had to relocate its B-1 bombers from the UK for fear of Iranian attack, and we’ve seen how Ukraine’s Operation Spiderweb, in which small unmanned aircraft were launched from inside Russia, targeted and destroyed Russian military assets,” Ullman said.
War expenses?
Rising costs related to the war against Iran are also putting political pressure on the administration of US President Donald Trump.
Earlier this year, the administration requested a record $1.5 trillion in defense spending for fiscal year 2027, citing the demands of war.
But the soaring prices have sparked skepticism from Congress, especially Democrats.
Last month, 45 Senate Democrats and one independent sent an open letter to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, demanding transparent accounting for war spending.
They argued that Congress needed a “detailed breakdown” of costs before considering further funding.
“American taxpayers are already paying an extra $100 billion out of their pockets as a result of the war in increased prices for gasoline and diesel alone, and at least another $60 billion in expenses such as groceries, mortgages, and airline tickets,” the senators wrote.
“Now you are asking us to pay again to fund a war of choice that Congress never authorized and that the president started without a strategic plan.”
In a separate report released in September, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the war with Iran cost about $38 billion as of August 1.
This amount reflects the cost of replacing consumables and equipment lost in combat, fuel costs, and other operational increases.
“Another month of conflict would cost $2 billion,” the official said.
However, it added: “If the intensity of the conflict increases to almost the levels experienced in July, the monthly costs would increase to $3 billion.”
The Pentagon said it had “nothing more to offer” in response to Al Jazeera’s questions about whether the losses reported this week were expected and what impact they would have on the Pentagon’s budget.
Opinion polls show the war is widely unpopular among American voters, and analysts speculate that reports of soaring costs could influence the U.S. midterm elections, which will decide whether President Trump’s Republicans retain control of Congress.
But Ullman is skeptical that reports like Monday’s will be a deciding factor in the outcome of the vote.
“I don’t think this report will have any impact on the outcome of the upcoming midterm elections. I think many Americans, even those who oppose war, will see this as an expected damage from military operations,” Ullman said.
