US aircraft losses valued at $5.1 billion in Iran war: report

The war in Iran has resulted in 81 US fixed-wing, rotary-wing, and uncrewed aircraft being lost or damaged, carrying a replacement price tag of up to $5.1 billion, according to a Washington Times analysis of a recent federal unit report.

The updated report by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) released on October 5 lists 81 aircraft lost or damaged, nearly doubling the 42 recorded in its May assessment.

While the CRS report does not assign its own total dollar value to the list, applying the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) federal per-unit pricing to 73 of the listed aircraft calculates the total replacement cost at $5.1 billion.

Eight aircraft, including three MQ-1 drones, one MH-60 Seahawk, and four AH-6 Little Bird helicopters, were excluded from this total because no official CBO per-unit cost was listed.

This $5.1 billion calculation exceeds the CBO’s September 15 estimate, which had capped total equipment loss costs at $3.3 billion through August 1.

The increase reflects aircraft added to the CRS tally after the May assessment, including eight F-15Es, one A-10, 21 MQ-9 Reapers, three MQ-1 drones, four AH-6 helicopters, one AH-64 Apache and one MH-60 Sea Hawk.

The $5.1 billion figure treats all affected aircraft as total losses at full replacement price. However, news reports cited by the CRS indicate that eight F-15E Strike Eagles damaged during a missile strike subsequently returned to service.

Factoring out those eight aircraft lowers the total replacement cost to $4.34 billion.

Notable individual losses on the list include an E-3 Sentry AWACS aircraft that sustained a direct hit; replacing it with a modern E-7 Wedgetail is projected to cost roughly $500 million.

Broader government estimates further underscore the mounting economic toll of the campaign.

According to a September 14 Lead Inspector General report covering April 1 through June 30, the Defense Department estimated equipment losses at $3.7 billion as of June 29, excluding infrastructure repairs.

Meanwhile, US Central Command (CENTCOM) reported to Congress that total war costs had reached $43.6 billion through September 3, a figure that includes $4.3 billion specifically allocated to replace lost equipment alongside expended munitions.

These findings align with broader Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projections, which calculated that the conflict had cost $38 billion through August 1, with baseline operations continuing to consume an additional $2 billion to $3 billion per month depending on combat intensity.