The Daily Populous Thursday May 21st, 2026 morning edition
Authored by stripes.com and submitted by PDXAirman

A U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drone sits parked at Creech Air Force Base, Nev., on April 15, 2025. The U.S. has lost 24 Reapers since the start of the war with Iran and at least 42 aircraft have been damaged or lost overall, according to a congressional report. (Clark Nieddu/U.S. Air Force)

At least 42 U.S. military aircraft have been lost or damaged since the start of the war with Iran, according to a recent analysis that compiled news reports and officials’ statements to tally losses.

The Congressional Research Service report comes as lawmakers push Pentagon leaders for more clarity on timelines, costs and outcomes pertaining to Operation Epic Fury.

Pentagon acting comptroller Jules Hurst testified to Congress this month that the estimated cost of military operations in Iran had reached $29 billion.

The figure includes equipment repair and replacement costs but does not account for damage to U.S. military bases in the Middle East that came under retaliatory attack by Iran, Hurst said. Joint American-Israeli strikes Feb. 28 against Tehran started the war.

During the conflict, the U.S. has lost 24 MQ-9 Reaper drones, according to the Congressional Research Service. The drones cost about $30 million apiece and can carry as many as 16 Hellfire missiles.

The report also noted that several U.S. aircraft were lost or damaged during search-and-rescue operations after an F-15E fighter jet was shot down over Iran in April.

In addition to the fighter jet, the U.S. lost an A-10 Thunderbolt II and two MC-130J Commando II special operations aircraft, which were intentionally destroyed on the ground in Iran during the operation.

One search-and-rescue helicopter, an HH-60W Jolly Green II, also sustained damage from small-arms fire in the mission.

Early in the war, a KC-135 refueling tanker flying in friendly airspace in Iraq crashed, killing all six crew members aboard. Another tanker was involved and made an emergency landing, according to the report.

The cause of the crash is still under investigation, but initial intelligence reports suggested that the pilots may have been trying to evade anti-aircraft fire from Iran-backed militias, according to recent reporting from The Atlantic.

U.S. Central Command has disputed those early intelligence reports, and the Air Force-led investigation is likely to conclude that the crash was an “avoidable mishap” in congested airspace, The Atlantic said.

Other aircraft that the report says were damaged or lost during Operation Epic Fury include:

ChefDue7062 on May 20th, 2026 at 16:53 UTC »

For reference the US lost 24 fixed wings in 2003-2009 Iraq and 52 fixed wings in the Gulf War.

WaffleBlues on May 20th, 2026 at 16:51 UTC »

It is interesting to me that they count the E-3 as "Damaged", as the images of the aircraft show it nearly cut in half.....

Persimmon-Mission on May 20th, 2026 at 16:22 UTC »

They hit an F-35 (not lost). That’s surprising to me, as a completely uninformed observer