Gravitas | Iran hammers US air power in West Asia after Navy badly hit

As U.S. President Donald Trump’s Iran war lingers on without any resolution, America's military continues to suffer losses in West Asia on an unprecedented scale. After its warships, U.S. naval assets are also being damaged by Iran's strikes...

Iran released footage of ballistic missiles being fired at the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan earlier this week. It claimed to have caused heavy damage while targeting maintenance and repair hangars, aircraft preparation facilities and shelters housing fighter jets. This retaliation came in response to, U.S. destroying five oil tankers.

On its part, Jordan stated that it intercepted 18 out of 20 ballistic missiles fired by Iran, whereas the remaining two fell in uninhabited areas. The ground reality though may be stark. According to CBS News, multiple American military aircraft were damaged in the Iranian strike on Jordan. One A-10 Thunderbolt attack aircraft, popularly known as the Warthog, lost a wing. The report claimed that eight F-15 Eagle fighter jets also sustained light damage and, were put back into service.

Amid depleting stockpile of Patriot missiles, U.S. forces reportedly used over thirty of these missiles, to tackle the Iranian offensive. Since the beginning of the war, U.S. bases in West Asia have suffered immense damage running into billions of dollars. Multiple other U.S. air assets have also been damaged or destroyed in the last six months. U.S. has already lost at least 45 MQ-9 Reaper drones, which accounts for 25% of its overall fleet.

Iran has also claimed to have struck F-35 Lightning jets on multiple occasions, a claim which U.S. has consistently denied. In mid-March, one KC-135 fueling 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.

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. In April, two MC-130J Commando II special operations aircraft were reportedly destroyed during a mission, to evacuate a stranded U.S. airman. One Jolly Green II search-and-rescue helicopter also sustained damage during this operation. Additionally, U.S. Navy confirmed the loss of, a Triton surveillance drone.

Iran has also claimed to have destroyed multiple THAAD and Patriot air defence systems at U.S. bases. On the naval front too, a potential setback for Pentagon can be in the offing. Some experts fear that Iran can potentially reverse engineer a U.S. military underwater drone, which it captured earlier this week.

While U.S. claimed that this drone was an older model that suffered a malfunction, it is said to be an advanced drone which can stay underwater for up to ten days, and is designed to operate with minimal human input.

Despite repeated military setbacks, Trump insisted that U.S. is winning, the war with Iran. At a time when Brent crude oil price has crossed 100 U.S. dollars per barrel, he sought to assure Americans that the oil price would plummet as soon as the war ends. While claiming that Iran is falling apart, he also made it clear that the war will continue beyond the midterm polls. Listen in to what he said.

Ahead of the Jewish New Year, Israel issued yet another warning to Iran, threatening to retaliate forcefully if Tehran launches an attack on its soil for any reason.

With Iran's fierce resistance and Trump's unwillingness to negotiate, it is amply clear that tensions in West Asia, are unlikely to cool down anytime soon.