WASHINGTON– WASHINGTON (AP) — Iranian strikes on more than two dozen U.S. bases in the Middle East focused on early warning systems before hitting planes and buildings, causing billions of dollars in property damage, according to an Associated Press analysis.
The AP independently verified the damage to U.S. targets using satellite imagery from multiple providers and spoke with four regional officials who were briefed or have direct knowledge of what was hit. The AP found that in August, more than 115 drone or missile strikes claimed by Iran or Iranian-backed militias damaged or destroyed structures at 26 military bases and other sites equipped with U.S. equipment.
The AP found that Iran initially focused its attacks on aircraft hangars and systems that detect incoming strikes, paving the way for further strikes on warehouses, troop housing and more.
The damage significantly changed the US position in the Middle East, with two regional officials saying the US had withdrawn many of its assets from the Persian Gulf. That includes aircraft, air defense systems, communications systems and other equipment critical to base operations, one of these officials said.
The impact of the damage raises questions about U.S. defenses in the region as President Donald Trump considers further strikes after Tuesday’s midterm elections and Tehran has promised major retaliation. A resumption of hostilities risks causing additional and costly damage to bases, which would increase uncertainty over whether the United States will rebuild its bases and equipment in the region at the end of the war.
The AP analysis offers new insight into Iran’s retaliatory strategy and what precisely was damaged on U.S. bases during the eight-month war, going beyond details published in independent studies, including by the Pentagon’s inspector general. It revealed that from April 1 to June 30, Iranian strikes damaged and destroyed hundreds of buildings and other structures on U.S. bases.
Such assessments provide the only comprehensive overview, as the Trump administration and the U.S. military have provided few details about the conflict’s toll on people and equipment, even putting in place measures to prevent outside scrutiny, such as delays in releasing satellite images.
U.S. Central Command, which oversees operations in the Middle East, declined to comment or elaborate on damage to bases or equipment, generally citing the need to ensure operational security. The command had no comment for this story.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said “US forces and bases are well protected and the US military is stronger than ever.”
“Our CENTCOM military has everything it needs to continue its historic success in ensuring that Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon,” Parnell said in a statement to the AP.
Most of the Iranian attacks took place in Kuwait, while US sites in Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were also targeted, according to analysis of satellite images. The deadliest known strike against U.S. troops in the Iran War took place in Kuwait, where six soldiers were killed in a drone attack at Port Shuaiba on March 1.
Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait was struck at least 30 times, damaging or destroying at least 15 aircraft hangars, numerous warehouses and 10 buildings near a residential area.
Camp Buehring, also in Kuwait, suffered even heavier losses. While Iranian attacks rendered most of its hangars unusable, troop staging areas suffered much greater damage because the base had a limited number of planes. Its gym was destroyed in March and a store where soldiers could buy products on base was hit in late July.
A strike also seriously damaged the garage and the dining room, according to the two regional officials. They and two others, who are regional military officials, spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive details about the damage to the bases.
Even though the strikes against Iran were much heavier, losses of U.S. hardware were inevitable, said Raphael Cohen, director of the national security program at the RAND School of Public Policy. The way wars are fought today makes all militaries “vulnerable to large-scale, cheap drone attacks,” he said.
“This should be a wake-up call to the United States,” Cohen said.
Iran launched its response to the war with precise attacks on systems intended to detect and thwart incoming strikes, then broadened its targets to buildings and equipment that made U.S. bases useful and habitable.
Iran destroyed compounds protecting US radar systems at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait and the Bahrain naval base in the first two days after the war began in late February. Additionally, Iran struck portable radars at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia and Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan.
Iran has prioritized strikes on the backbone of the US air defense system, targeting key early warning radars that are difficult and expensive to repair or replace, said NR Jenzen-Jones, director of technical intelligence consultancy Armament Research Services.
A radar was hit in Jordan and reportedly destroyed. It was one of 13 owned by the military worldwide, manufacturer Raytheon said. Budget documents show each cost about half a billion dollars.
Another radar in Qatar was significantly damaged, but it is unclear whether it was destroyed. Purchased by the Gulf country in a deal valued at $1.1 billion in 2013, it appears to have been the only one in the region.
Hitting such sites was likely “intended to disrupt and degrade the ability of the United States and its allies to respond to further strikes,” Jenzen-Jones said.
After hitting radars, Iran successfully launched more than 50 strikes on 18 sites with U.S. military equipment in the first month of the war, prioritizing areas equipped with aircraft.
Iran damaged refueling planes, communications systems, fuel bunkers and troop housing at various bases, the two regional officials said. An Iranian strike on Prince Sultan Air Base in March damaged the rear half of a Boeing E-3 Sentry surveillance plane and another hit a CIA unit at the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh.
Another regional military official, who recently visited the Saudi airbase, described a badly damaged facility with scattered debris and broken construction materials. He said he saw damaged equipment, including bombed barracks and mess halls.
The official said the attack that hit the surveillance plane also damaged several other planes, including two aerial tankers. A Congressional Research Service report updated in October said 15 U.S. aircraft were damaged at regional bases.
Al Dhafra Air Base, located about 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, was frequently hit early in the war, according to a second regional military official with direct knowledge of the damage. The official noted damage to infrastructure such as aircraft hangars and other facilities as well as equipment such as an early warning radar system and surveillance drones.
Major vendors with U.S. contracts have blocked or delayed the public release of satellite imagery at the request of U.S. officials, who have sometimes cited it as a national security risk. This leaves limited options for visually confirming impact damage until images can be obtained from OneAtlas, a satellite provider owned by Airbus.
In the example of Camp Buehring in Kuwait, one of the hardest hit bases, high-quality images from reliable providers were not available until late August. From the time the footage stopped in early March until it re-emerged in August, more than 30 base structures were damaged or destroyed. The AP confirmed that Iran struck Camp Buehring multiple times in March, April, May and July.
Months later, no final outcome to the war has been defined, and further damage could occur if hostilities resume, which the United States and Iran both see as possible.
The conflict could portend a new reality for American forces.
“This is the operating environment that we’re going to face going forward,” said Cohen, the RAND analyst. “The idea that we can rely on fixed infrastructure like we did during the global war on terror is over.”
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Magdy reported from Cairo.
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