Politics is fast. We're faster. Sign up to the DC Insider newsletter for a front-row seat to Washington... and unlock 3 FREE months of DailyMail+ HERE See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred SourceBy ROSS IBBETSON, ASSOCIATE EDITOR Published: 22:01 BST, 20 May 2026 | Updated: 23:17 BST, 20 May 2026
Forty-two US aircraft have been lost or damaged in the Iran war, including three fighter jets worth $300 million wiped out by friendly fire, according to a congressional report.A total of 32 aircraft have been destroyed, including 24 MQ-9 Reaper drones valued at roughly $30 million per unit, since the war started on February 28, according to the report filed by the Congressional Research Service.The toll includes four F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jets, three of them downed by Kuwaiti air defenses in a friendly fire blunder on March 1. A fourth was shot out of the sky by Iranian forces on April 3, sparking what Donald Trump hailed as 'the most daring operation in US history' to rescue the pilot and weapons officer. Two MC-130J Commando IIs, a specially modified version of the Super Hercules used for covert operations, were intentionally destroyed on the ground in Iran during the rescue mission after becoming unable to depart. An A-10 Warthog ground-attack jet was shot down by Iranian fire during the same operation. A US Air Force KC-135 refueling aircraft crashed in Iraq on March 12, killing all six crew members. Ten aircraft have been damaged in Operation Epic Fury, including six caught sitting on the ground at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia during an Iranian missile and drone barrage. Among them was an E-3 Sentry AWACS, one of the Air Force's most prized surveillance jets, which was parked on an 'unprotected taxiway' when Iranian missiles tore through the base. An HH-60W Jolly Green II helicopter was also damaged by small-arms fire during the search-and-rescue mission for the downed F-15E. An F-15E Strike Eagle turns toward the Panamint range over Death Valley National Park, California Wreckage is seen from what Iranian authorities claimed was a US military aircraft that crashed during a rescue mission for the missing crew of the F-15E that was downed on April 3Iranian media broadcast images showing US aircraft during the search and rescue mission for the downed airman in AprilSeparate reporting suggests the true toll is even higher as four Little Bird special operations helicopters were also destroyed during the rescue mission, according to ABC News, losses that do not appear in the congressional tally. The cost of the Iran war has ballooned to $29 billion, Pentagon Comptroller Hay Hurst testified at a congressional hearing on May 12, up from $25 billion just two weeks earlier. The vast bulk of the funds has been used to replace munitions and repair equipment but also includes operational costs to keep forces deployed.The soaring costs of the war come as Trump is under increasing pressure to bring the conflict to end as Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz roils global markets.Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu clashed in a phone call last night over whether to push ahead with renewed strikes to break the stalemate. The call was 'lengthy and dramatic,' Israel's Channel 12 reported. Netanyahu increasingly doubts further negotiations with Tehran will yield a peace deal and wants to resume military strikes, the Israeli outlet reported. Trump, meanwhile, wants to push harder for an agreement in which Iran abandons its nuclear weapons program before any return to war.
