Washington, DC: The US may have lost as many as 39 military aircraft in its conflict with Iran over the last six weeks, reports suggest.
Ten more aircraft were damaged to varying degrees, the report says. The figures come after US forces flew more than 13,000 sorties over the course of the campaign, known as Operation Epic Fury, as reported by News 18.
The losses include drones, fighter jets, transport aircraft and refuellers.
The US drone fleet accounted for over 60% of the total attrition. According to the latest reporting from Jim LaPorta and CBS, up to 24 MQ-9A Reaper drones operated by the US Air Force were reportedly destroyed.
Five fighter aircraft were also shot down while in the air. These include four F-15E Strike Eagles and one A-10 Warthog.
While an F-35A fighter jet was also hit over Iranian airspace – marking the first known instance of combat damage to a fifth-generation fighter aircraft – the pilot managed to carry out an emergency landing safely.
Around 20% of the aircraft losses were attributed to friendly fire, including three F-15E jets shot down over Kuwait. Some assets were also deliberately destroyed to prevent them from being captured during a combat search and rescue mission inside Iranian territory.
The destruction of an E-3G Sentry airborne early warning aircraft was described as particularly significant.
