National Defense

Iranian Strikes On US Military Bases Took Massive Toll, Pentagon Watchdog Reveals

Official White House Photo by Daniel Torok

Iranian attacks damaged and destroyed “hundreds” of buildings and structures at American military bases across eight Middle Eastern countries while the U.S. burned through more than $22 billion in munitions during Operation Epic Fury.

The Pentagon estimated the war had already cost $33.4 billion as of June 29, including billions in equipment losses and operational expenses, according to a new Department of War Inspector General report. That figure does not include the cost of repairing damaged military infrastructure, meaning the true price tag is likely much higher.

The cofounder of the Security Policy Reform Institute, Stephen Semler, previously told the Daily Caller News Foundation that the cost was likely around $112.3 billion as of July 26, comparable to U.S. military spending in World War II.

“They’re working off of a baseline cost like the regular DoD budget that was passed in early February, that combined with reconciliation funding pushed the Pentagon budget to over a trillion, which is not normal historically,” Semler told the DCNF. “It’s like peak Iraq and Afghanistan wars and World War II, when spending transcended a trillion dollars in one year in inflation-adjusted terms.”

“To understand the government’s habit of lowballing the cost of wars, consider the war in Iraq,” Steve Hanke, a professor of applied economics at Johns Hopkins University, previously told the DCNF. “In the Iraq War, the cost estimates initially submitted by the Bush administration were around $200 billion. That war ended up costing $5 trillion, 25 times the original estimate. Using that multiple, if the war winds down rather quickly, we are looking at a final direct cost of the Iran war in the neighborhood of at least $1 trillion.”

The report also documents damage beyond military installations, including roughly $184 million in damage to U.S. embassies, consulates and other diplomatic facilities in Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, according to the Department of War Inspector General. The Pentagon’s $33.4 billion estimate excluded the cost of repairing damaged military infrastructure, which Semler said would likely push the war’s true price tag higher.

The Pentagon had previously pushed back on reports describing the destruction as extensive. A military spokesman disputed that characterization in May after satellite imagery showed at least 228 structures or pieces of equipment damaged or destroyed across 15 U.S. military sites, The Washington Post reported.

The inspector general has now formally acknowledged that Iranian strikes damaged or destroyed hundreds of buildings and structures across U.S. bases in eight countries.

The fighting also placed significant pressure on U.S. weapons stockpiles. Munitions expenditures during the war created “strategic inventory shortfalls” and exposed bottlenecks in the defense industrial base, the Pentagon’s acquisition and sustainment office told the inspector general.

The U.S. entered the war with an estimated 2,330 Patriot and 360 THAAD interceptors, but by late July had fewer than 1,000 Patriots and about 250 THAADs remaining, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

Semler explained that even if the U.S. military-industrial complex were to receive massive investments in production capacity, it would still take years to replenish these stockpiles.

“For example, the Patriot Interceptor’s current production rate is 650 per year, and the Trump administration is saying, ‘Oh well, we signed an agreement with Lockheed that they’ll ramp up production to close to 2000 per year by 2032 or something or 2030 or something like that.’ Even if that happens, it’s still going to take several years to replace these munitions because of the rate at which they were expended,” Semler told the DCNF.

The cost of rebuilding U.S. missile stocks extends beyond simply buying replacement interceptors.

Lockheed Martin plans to invest roughly $8 billion to $9 billion through 2030 to build or modernize more than 20 U.S. munitions facilities, including about $900 million to $1.1 billion at its Troy, Alabama, site to nearly double production capacity, while L3Harris has broken ground on two new PAC-3 propulsion facilities in Arkansas, according to the companies.

A significant portion of the Patriot missile interceptors (PAC-3 MSEs) being produced in the United States will be sold to foreign militaries, further reducing the amount available for the U.S. military, according to the report.

The U.S. has approved the possible sale of more than 1,200 Patriot interceptors to Saudi Arabia and Qatar, even as its own inventories remain strained, according to the Defense Security Cooperation Agency and the Federal Register. The planned foreign sales could absorb about 37% of near-term U.S. production as the Pentagon works to rebuild stocks depleted by the Iran war, according to the Army and CSIS.

“Congress should insist that Secretary Hegseth manage the Pentagon budget in the same way as all other departments manage a budget,” Allison McManus, a managing director for the National Security and International Policy department at American Progress, previously told the DCNF. “Congress should remember that this is not a war that Iran brought to the United States, but one that Secretary Hegseth and President Trump embarked on with full knowledge of the resources available.”

The rate at which these munitions are expended during the Iran War,  combined with foreign military sales and current production estimates, it could be impossible to replace these stockpiles if the U.S. does not exit the Iran War, Semler said.

“It would require the U.S. to stop the Iran War,” Semler told the DCNF. “I mean, it’s possible, of course, for the U.S. to replace these munitions. But even if the U.S. stops fighting today and doesn’t fire another one, it would still take several years to replace these munitions.”

Dozens of American aircraft were also damaged or destroyed during the fighting.

Four F-15E fighter jets were destroyed, including three lost to friendly fire and one to enemy fire, according to the report. An F-35A was damaged by enemy fire over Iran, while seven KC-135 refueling aircraft were damaged or destroyed and as many as 30 MQ-9 intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance drones were lost under various circumstances.

Production constraints remain particularly acute for solid rocket motors, high-grade explosives and propellants, while the defense industry is also struggling to recruit enough skilled manufacturing workers, according to the report. Expanding production capacity will require significant lead time despite Pentagon efforts to accelerate production and secure critical supply chains.

The scale of Operation Epic Fury is massive, with more than 50,000 American service members deployed throughout CENTCOM’s area of responsibility. U.S. forces flew approximately 36,000 combat sorties, carried out more than 1,800 fire missions and struck roughly 13,500 targets between Feb. 28 and April 7, according to the report.

Iran and its proxies launched thousands of missiles and one-way attack drones at regional countries, commercial vessels and U.S. military targets during major combat operations, the inspector general found. The Middle East Defense Network intercepted more than 6,000 one-way attack drones and more than 1,500 ballistic missiles aimed at U.S. and partner forces.

The attacks were serious enough to disrupt the Navy’s established logistics system in the Persian Gulf. Iran targeted Bahrain, previously the Navy’s primary regional logistics hub, with ballistic missiles and one-way attack drones, forcing CENTCOM to move sustainment resources to alternative locations, according to the report.

Shifting some logistics support to Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia created its own problems, stretching supply lines to their limits. At least six U.S. warships were also pulled from the Pacific and re-tasked to the Middle East to support the campaign.

Seven American service members were killed in action and another seven died in non-hostile incidents between Feb. 28 and June 30, while 417 were wounded in action during that period, according to the report. Four additional service members were killed in action in July, though the total number of wounded continued to climb after the report’s June 30 cutoff.

The wounded count has since climbed from the report’s 417 to 756 service members, according to the Pentagon’s Defense Casualty Analysis System, which tracks casualties from Operation Epic Fury and subsequent overseas operations.

“Congress has, at best, the most tenuous grasp on Uncle Sam’s war of choice in Iran,” Hanke previously told the DCNF. “Indeed, the U.S. Congress has essentially turned a blind eye to this great misadventure. In my wildest dreams, I can’t imagine that they would look into the details related to funding the war.”

The financial strain prompted the White House to seek $67.1 billion in supplemental Pentagon funding, mostly for Operation Epic Fury, the report said, citing a June 24 White House request to Congress. The request included $21 billion for munitions and $17.3 billion for operational costs.

“I don’t see the Trump administration really changing its playbook,” Semler told the DCNF. “War-making is now a central part of its identity. It’s kind of given up on, as the Biden administration did, post-Russian invasion of Ukraine, foreign policy. The war has become a central part of the administration’s identity, and that’s going to be a tough thing to shed.”