USAF Losses against Iran (1 Viewer)

[Glider]

I was watching a congressional hearing and a question was asked about the cost of replacing the 39 aircraft currently lost in the conflict with Iran. There was no answer which isn't unexpected but what interested me was the number of aircraft lost. Neither side disagreed with the number so my assumption is that it was accurate.

Does anyone know what the breakdown might be as it was a much larger number than I was expecting. Personally I was thinking that it would be about 20 or so.

 

[Sabrejet]

Bear in mind that quite a few drones (included in aircraft I guess - including a Global Hawk/Triton) have been lost. I stated a rundown here a few weeks ago and it was probably more than 20 at that point.

EDIT: Well I checked with ASN and I think I can see why they didn't quibble with the figure of '32'...

1 Mar 2026 F-15E Strike Eagle 91-0327 near Kuwait City w/o
1 Mar 2026 F-15E Strike Eagle near Kuwait City w/o
1 Mar 2026 F-15E Strike Eagle near Al Jahra w/o
3 Mar 2026 MQ-9A Reaper Khorramabad w/o
6 Mar 2026 MQ-9A Reaper Tangestan, Busher w/o
6 Mar 2026 MQ-9A Reaper Isfahan w/o
7 Mar 2026 MQ-9A Reaper Hormozgan province w/o
9 Mar 2026 MQ-9A Reaper Basra w/o
11 Mar 2026 MQ-9A Reaper Kirman province, Iran w/o
12 Mar 2026 KC-135R Stratotanker 63-8017 Western Iraq sub
12 Mar 2026 KC-135R Stratotanker 60-0347 Western Iraq w/o
13 Mar 2026 MQ-9A Reaper Bandar Abbas, S Iran w/o
13 Mar 2026 KC-135R Stratotanker (5×) Prince Sultan Air Base unk
18 Mar 2026 P-8A Poseidon Unknown location sub
20 Mar 2026 MQ-9A Reaper Bushehr w/o
27 Mar 2026 E-3C Sentry 81-0005 Prince Sultan Air Base w/o
27 Mar 2026 KC-46A Pegasus Prince Sultan Air Base w/o
28 Mar 2026 MQ-9 Reaper Shiraz w/o
31 Mar 2026 MQ-9A Reaper (x2) near Isfahan w/o
2 Apr 2026 CH-47 Chinook (x2) C Buehring/Ali Al Salem w/o
2 Apr 2026 CH-53 Super Stallion C Buehring/Ali Al Salem w/o
2 Apr 2026 MQ-9A Reaper Shiraz w/o
3 Apr 2026 F-15E Strike Eagle near Asadabad w/o
3 Apr 2026 HH-60G Pave Hawk Near border Iraq and Iran sub
3 Apr 2026 A-10 Thunderbolt II Somewhere in Kuwait w/o
3 Apr 2026 A-10 Thunderbolt II Strait of Hormuz w/o
5 Apr 2026 MQ-9A Reaper Qeshm Island, Iran w/o
5 Apr 2026 MC-130J Commando II near Mahyar, Iran w/o
5 Apr 2026 MH-6M Little Bird (x4) near Mahyar, Iran w/o
5 Apr 2026 MC-130J Commando II near Mahyar, Iran w/o
6 Apr 2026 MQ-9A Reaper Qeshm Island, Iran w/o
9 Apr 2026 MQ-4C Triton (RQ-4) 169804 Persian Gulf w/o
11 Apr 2026 C-130H Hercules 91-1653 Shannon Airport unk
6 May 2026 MQ-9A Reaper Qeshm Island, Iran w/o

I've included the Poseidon because the extent of damage and location is not known (beyond 'substantial'). Likewise though the Shannon C-130 is unlikely to be a write-off, it might be argued that it was also a war casualty. I may have missed some, but the 'write off' figure thus far would seem to be 35+

 

[Glider]

Many thanks for this. I had forgotten the Reapers.

 

[Sabrejet]

Eduard Info for May says 29 Reapers lost. There are a few to add, including a CH-53E and a CH-47 lost to drone strikes in Kuwait.

 

[buffnut453]

if we add 29 Reapers to the other losses, the total is 57+. That's a lot of expensive hardware before we consider the human losses across 27 crewed platforms. Yes, a number were destroyed on the ground…but, still, it's a lot.

 

[Retattack]

if we add 29 Reapers to the other losses, the total is 57+. That's a lot of expensive hardware before we consider the human losses across 27 crewed platforms. Yes, a number were destroyed on the ground…but, still, it's a lot.

The congressional report cites 42, including the reapers (but they claim only 24 reapers):

https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IN12692

The list doesn't include the 4 MH/AH-6s destroyed in the CSAR mission, possibly because they're Army, but that still only comes to 21 crewed platforms (6 of which were destroyed on the ground, and 6 others were reportedly intentional demolitions). I suspect at least some of the discrepancies are due to double counting (e.g., that A-10).

 

[buffnut453]

The congressional report cites 42, including the reapers (but they claim only 24 reapers):

https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IN12692

The list doesn't include the 4 MH/AH-6s destroyed in the CSAR mission, possibly because they're Army, but that still only comes to 21 crewed platforms (6 of which were destroyed on the ground, and 6 others were reportedly intentional demolitions). I suspect at least some of the discrepancies are due to double counting (e.g., that A-10).

Agreed, plus I'm pretty sure the C-130 at Shannon Airport wasn't destroyed. There may be other double-counts or incorrect entries in the list. Still an expensive bill, though.

 

[Sabrejet]

Agreed, plus I'm pretty sure the C-130 at Shannon Airport wasn't destroyed.

Not destroyed, but a casualty, as indeed was one of the KC-135s which has already been flown back to Tinker looking like a tea strainer. Note too that the P-8 is still a somewhat mysterious and uncategorised mishap which may not even be related. As the Shannon C-130 may still be grounded there (?) and a 'tbd' I included it as a placeholder.