Iran bleeds American military: 81 aircraft lost, ships hit & bombers pulled | Gravitas

As the war in Iran drags on, America's military continues to pay a heavy cost.

Whether it is its bases in West Asia, which have suffered damage running into billions of dollars, or warships, U.S. has borne the brunt of Iran's retaliation.

A new report has now thrown more light on the extent of U.S. combat aircraft losses.

According to the U.S. Congressional Research Service, at least 81 American aircraft, drones and helicopters have been damaged or destroyed since the beginning of the war against Iran in February.

This tally is based on U.S. military statements as well as findings by the inspector general of the U.S. Department of War.

The cost of replacing damaged equipment has been pegged at up to 3.3 billion U.S. dollars.

U.S. has already lost at least 45 MQ-9 reaper drones, which account for 25% of its overall fleet.

According to the report, three F-15 fighter jets were destroyed by friendly fire over Kuwait in March.

A month later, Centcom reported that one more F-15 jet was destroyed over Iran.

Last month, eight of these jets sustained light damage in an Iranian strike on Jordan's Muwaffaq Salti air base, but they returned to service subsequently.

In mid-March, one KC-135 fuelling plane went down over Iraq, resulting in the death of all six crew members.

Besides this, five more Stratotankers were reportedly damaged in an Iranian missile strike on Saudi Arabia's Prince Sultan air base.

The report also claimed that U.S. had intentionally destroyed four AH-6 Little Bird helicopters during a mission to evacuate a stranded U.S. airman.

During the same mission, two MC-130J Commando II Special Operations Aircraft were destroyed.

While Iran has claimed to have struck F-35 Lightning jets on multiple occasions, the report flagged that one such aircraft was struck by Iranian ground fire in March.

This is not all.

In another blow for U.S., Iran also claimed the downing of an E-3 Sentry airborne warning and control system aircraft, which can track drones, missiles and aircraft from hundreds of kilometres away.

One Jolly Green II search-and-rescue helicopter also sustained damage during the Iran war.

Iran has also claimed to have destroyed multiple THAAD and Patriot air defence systems at U.S. bases.

Earlier, U.S. President Donald Trump asserted that the war would be wrapped up soon, either the nice way or the not-so nice way.

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio reaffirmed that a deal would be acceptable to America only if it ensures that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon.

He also reiterated America's claim that Iran has lost control of the Strait of Hormuz.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance went one step further.

He said that Washington will require a meaningful reduction in Iran's nuclear enrichment capacity before any agreement is reached.

He said, "If you don't want a nuclear weapon, then why do you need 60 per cent enriched fuel?"

Earlier, U.S. pulled out all its 12 B-1 Air Force bombers from UK's RAF Fairford base.

While Trump attributed this move to threats, reports suggest that U.S. specifically feared an Iranian attack aiming to kill many American troops and destroy planes.

Meanwhile, a 22-year-old British national was arrested in connection with a terror plot pertaining to this base.

While it is the seventh arrest in this case, all other suspects have been released on bail.

Iran though has denied involvement in this matter.