The United States military has had 81 aircraft destroyed or damaged in the war with Iran, a Congressional Research Service report released this week says.
The number includes both airplanes and helicopters as well as drones, with the MQ-9 Reaper drone – used for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, close air support and combat search and rescue – accounting for more than half of the losses.
But also on the list are some of the Pentagon’s most-prized ***** ets, including an F-35A fighter jet and an E-3 Sentry, the four-engine jet with a large radar dome atop the fuselage used for target tracking and airspace management.
The total cost of the aircraft lost is between $1.9 billion and $3.3 billion, depending on the Defense Department’s plans for replacements, the report said, citing figures from the Congressional Budget Office.
The total cost of the war is much higher – at least $45 billion, sources have told CNN. That figure doesn’t include damage to infrastructure at US bases in the region, including those where some of the aircraft losses happened.

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