ISTANBUL

The US has lost military assets worth approximately $4.83 billion during the first month of “Operation Epic Fury,” according to estimates and data compiled by Anadolu.

Destroyed US aircraft

The latest major loss was the destruction of an E-3G “Sentry” Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft valued at about $500 million after it was struck in an Iranian attack on Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia on March 27. Visual evidence released in the following days indicated the aircraft had been destroyed beyond recovery.

A KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft also crashed in western Iraq during an operation Thursday, killing all six crew members. In addition, three more KC-135 aircraft were destroyed in the same strike on Prince Sultan Air Base that hit the E-3G. The replacement cost of the aircraft, first introduced in the late 1950s, is estimated at about $320 million when adjusted for inflation.

US officials speaking to CBS News confirmed that 12 MQ-9 Reaper drones had been shot down. Open-source intelligence reports indicated three additional losses, bringing the total to 15 drones. With a unit cost of roughly $30 million, total losses from the drones are estimated at about $450 million.

On March 24, FPV drones targeting the former US base Camp Victory in Iraq struck a UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter worth about $20 million.

On the second day of strikes, three F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jets were lost in a friendly-fire incident involving Kuwaiti air defenses. All six crew members survived, but the aircraft were destroyed, with replacement costs estimated at about $282 million. Since then, an F-35 stealth fighter jet was also hit and forced to make an emergency landing. Replacement cost is estimated at roughly $100 million.

Destroyed radar components

Among the most costly losses were damaged AN/TPY-2 radar components belonging to THAAD missile defense systems in the United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, valued at an estimated $2 billion. Satellite imagery reviewed by multiple outlets indicated four AN/TPY-2 radars were struck across those locations, although the extent of the damage remains unclear.

A US AN/FPS-132 early warning radar at Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, valued at about $1.1 billion, was also struck by an Iranian missile when retaliatory attacks began on Feb. 28. Qatari authorities confirmed the radar was damaged.

In the same attack that destroyed the UH-60M helicopter in Iraq, an AN/MPQ-64 Sentinel radar worth about $5 million was also destroyed by FPV drones.

Iran also struck the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet headquarters in Manama, Bahrain, destroying two satellite communications terminals and several large buildings.

Open-source intelligence reports identified the targeted communication terminals as AN/GSC-52B systems, with estimated losses of about $20 million including deployment and installation costs.

Satellite imagery analyzed by The New York Times of Camp Arifjan in Kuwait also showed three destroyed radomes, adding roughly $30 million in additional damage.

On March 14, an Iranian drone struck a US Saab Giraffe 1X radar system at the US Embassy compound in Baghdad. The radar supported Counter Rocket, Artillery and Mortar and Counter Unmanned Aerial System operations within a 75-kilometer radius and is estimated to be worth about $2 million.

Taken together, these losses bring the estimated value of destroyed US assets during the first month of operations to approximately $4.83 billion, according to Anadolu’s compiled assessment.