Iran’s Strikes Damage 16 U.S. Military Bases Across Middle East, Cost $800M in Two Weeks

Iran’s retaliatory strikes against U.S. and Israeli military targets have damaged the majority of American military positions in the Middle East, according to a CNN investigation published on Friday.

At least 16 U.S. installations across eight countries have been struck, with a U.S. source describing the scale of damage as unprecedented.

“I’ve never seen anything like this before.… These are rapid, targeted strikes, with [advanced] technology.”

The primary targets included multi-million-dollar aircraft. For example, Iran destroyed a Boeing E-3 Sentry aircraft at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. This surveillance, command, control, and communications aircraft is valued at nearly $500 million and is no longer in production.

Other strikes targeted critical communications infrastructure. At Camp Arifjan in Kuwait, satellite imagery revealed Iran had destroyed all but one ray dome, a protective structure for satellite dishes. Radar systems were also heavily impacted.

“Our radar systems are our most expensive and our most limited resource in the region.”

Previously reported estimates indicated that 13 U.S. bases in the Middle East were rendered nearly uninhabitable, forcing military personnel to work remotely from hotels and office spaces.

Within the first two weeks of the conflict, Iran’s attacks caused an estimated $800 million in damage, according to a report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a BBC analysis.

During a House Armed Services Committee hearing on Wednesday, Undersecretary of Defense Jules Hurst disclosed a $25 billion cost for Donald Trump’s military campaign. However, this figure does not account for the expenses required to repair damaged bases, CNN reported on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Trump has continued to claim that the U.S. has nearly obliterated all of Iran’s military assets, though reports suggest otherwise.