Iran’s strikes on more than two dozen United States bases in the Middle East first knocked out the systems meant to detect incoming attacks, then widened into a campaign that caused billions of dollars in equipment damage, according to an Associated Press analysis published on October 31.
Why the findings matter is that they offer the fullest public picture yet of an eight-month war whose toll the US government has largely kept quiet, and they land just as President Donald Trump weighs renewed strikes after Tuesday’s midterm elections, with Tehran vowing major retaliation for any new attack.
Through August, more than 115 drone or missile strikes claimed by Iran or Iranian-backed militias damaged or destroyed structures on 26 military bases and other sites holding US equipment, the AP found. The news agency said it independently verified the damage using satellite imagery from multiple providers and spoke to four regional officials who were briefed on the attacks or had firsthand knowledge of what was hit.
From April 1 to June 30 alone, Iranian strikes damaged and destroyed hundreds of buildings and other structures on US bases, the analysis found. That picture goes beyond what independent reviews, including from the Pentagon’s inspector general, had previously released.
Such assessments provide the only overall snapshot because the Trump administration and the US military have disclosed few details about the toll of the conflict on people and equipment, the AP reported, even putting measures in place that impeded outside review, such as delays in the release of satellite images. US Central Command, which oversees operations in the Middle East, has refused to comment on or specify damage to bases or equipment, usually citing the need for operational security, and it did not comment for this story.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell asserted that US “forces and bases are well protected and America’s military is stronger than ever.” He said in a statement to the AP that American service members in Central Command “have everything they need to continue their historic success ensuring Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon.”
Damage from the strikes has significantly reshaped the American foothold in the Middle East, according to the analysis. Two regional officials said the US has moved many of its assets out of the Persian Gulf, including aircraft, air defense systems, communications systems and other equipment crucial to base operations.
A return to hostilities threatens additional costly damage to bases, the AP warned, which would heighten uncertainty about whether the United States will choose to rebuild its bases and equipment in the region when the war ends.
What Iran targeted at US bases
Most of the Iranian attacks have been in Kuwait, while US sites in Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates also have been targeted, the analysis of satellite imagery shows.
Deadliest known strike on US troops in the Iran war was in Kuwait, where six soldiers were killed in a drone attack at Port Shuaiba on March 1, according to the AP account.
Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait was struck at least 30 times, damaging or destroying at least 15 aircraft hangars, numerous warehouses and 10 buildings near a residential area, the analysis found.
Camp Buehring, also in Kuwait, faced even heavier losses. While Iranian attacks made most of its hangars inoperable, gathering places for troops sustained much more damage because the base had limited aircraft. Its gym was destroyed in March and a store for troops was hit in late July, and a strike also severely damaged the garage and dining room there, according to two regional officials. From the halt of imagery in early March to its reemergence in August, more than 30 structures on the base were damaged or destroyed.
While strikes were much heavier against Iran, American materiel losses were inevitable, said Raphael Cohen, director of the National Security Program at the RAND School of Public Policy. The way wars are fought today makes all militaries “susceptible to large-scale, cheap drone attacks,” he said.
“This should be a wake-up call for the United States,” Cohen said.
Radars were hit first
Iran launched its response to the war with accurate attacks on systems meant to detect and thwart incoming strikes, then broadened its targets to buildings and equipment that made US bases useful and habitable, the AP found.
Iran destroyed enclosures protecting US radar systems at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait and Naval Support Activity Bahrain within the first two days of the war’s start in late February, the analysis said. Iran also hit portable radars at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia and Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan.
Iran prioritized striking at the backbone of the US air defense system, targeting key early-warning radars that are difficult and expensive to repair or replace, said N.R. Jenzen-Jones, director of the technical intelligence consulting firm Armament Research Services. Hitting such sites was likely “intended to disrupt and degrade the US and allies’ ability to respond to further strikes,” he said.
A radar was hit in Jordan and said to be destroyed. It was one of only 13 possessed by the Army globally, manufacturer Raytheon said, and budget documents show each costs about half a billion dollars. Another radar in Qatar was damaged significantly, but it is unclear if it was destroyed. Purchased by the Gulf country in a 2013 deal valued at $1.1 billion, it appears to have been the only one in the region.
After hitting the radars, Iran launched more than 50 successful strikes on 18 locations with US military equipment in the first month of the war, prioritizing areas with aircraft, the AP found.
Iran damaged refueling aircraft, communication systems, fuel bunkers and troop accommodations at various bases, two regional officials said. An Iranian strike on Prince Sultan Air Base in March damaged the back half of a Boeing E-3 Sentry surveillance aircraft, and another hit a CIA unit at the US Embassy in Riyadh. A separate regional military official, who recently visited the Saudi air base, described a severely damaged facility with scattered debris and broken construction materials, including bombed-out barracks and mess halls. The official said the attack that hit the surveillance plane also damaged several other aircraft, including two aerial refueling tankers. A Congressional Research Service report updated in October said 15 US aircraft had been damaged on regional bases.
Al Dhafra Air Base, about 20 miles south of Abu Dhabi in the UAE, was hit frequently early in the war, according to a second regional military official with direct knowledge of the damage. The official noted damage to infrastructure like aircraft hangars as well as to equipment such as an early-warning radar system and surveillance drones.
Satellite imagery was delayed
Major providers with US contracts have blocked or delayed public release of satellite imagery at the request of American officials, who sometimes cited it being a national security risk, the AP reported. That left limited options to visually confirm strike damage until imagery could be obtained from OneAtlas, a satellite provider owned by Airbus.
In the example of Camp Buehring, high-quality imagery from reliable providers was not available until late August. The AP confirmed that Iran struck Camp Buehring numerous times in March, April, May and July.
Public cost estimates remain incomplete because the military has not released a comprehensive value for damaged bases. A recent Central Command estimate obtained by CBS News put the war’s military cost at at least $47.1 billion by mid-October, including operations, expended munitions and lost equipment, but excluding damage to installations. The inspector general’s report offered one narrower figure: Iranian strikes caused an estimated $184 million in damage to US diplomatic facilities in four countries.
Months later, no endgame for the war has been articulated, and more damage could be ahead if hostilities resume, which the US and Iran both say is possible. The conflict could foreshadow a new reality for US forces, Cohen said.
“This is the operating environment that we’re going to face in the future,” he said. “The idea that we can rely on fixed infrastructure in the way that we have during the global war on terrorism is over.”
What is confirmed is the scale of the damage the AP verified: more than 115 strikes, 26 sites, and billions of dollars in equipment losses. What is not confirmed is the full price tag, which the Pentagon has not disclosed, or whether the bases will be rebuilt if the war ends.
