Iran damaged structures at 26 U.S. bases after targeting early-warning radars

Regional officials say the U.S. moved many assets from the Persian Gulf

Iran’s strikes on more than two dozen U.S. bases in the Middle East went after early-warning systems before hitting aircraft and buildings, causing billions of dollars in equipment damage, according to an Associated Press analysis of satellite imagery. The AP independently verified damage to American targets using imagery from multiple providers and spoke with four regional officials who were briefed on or had firsthand knowledge of what was hit. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive details about the damage to U.S. bases.

Through August, more than 115 drone or missile strikes claimed by Iran or Iranian-backed militias had damaged or destroyed structures on 26 military bases and other sites with U.S. equipment, the analysis found. From April 1 through June 30, Iranian strikes damaged and destroyed hundreds of buildings and other structures on U.S. bases.

Two regional officials said the damage has significantly reshaped the American foothold in the Middle East, with the United States moving many of its assets out of the Persian Gulf. One of the officials said that includes aircraft, air defense systems, communications systems and other equipment crucial to base operations.

The impact raises questions about American defenses in the region as President Donald Trump considers new strikes after Tuesday’s midterm elections and Tehran has vowed major retaliation. A return to hostilities threatens additional costly damage to bases and heightens uncertainty about whether the United States will choose to rebuild its bases and equipment in the region when the eight-month war ends.

The AP analysis offers the only overall public snapshot of the toll, because the Trump administration and the U.S. military have provided few details about damage to people and equipment and have put measures in place that impede outside review, such as delays in the release of satellite images. U.S. Central Command, which oversees operations in the Middle East, has refused to comment on or specify damage to bases or equipment, usually citing the need for operational security; the command did not comment for the story.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell asserted that U.S. “forces and bases are well protected and America’s military is stronger than ever.” “Our service members in CENTCOM have everything they need to continue their historic success ensuring Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon,” Parnell said in a statement to the AP.

Most of the Iranian attacks have hit Kuwait, according to the satellite imagery analysis. U.S. sites in Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates also have been targeted. The deadliest known strike on U.S. troops in the Iran war came at Port Shuaiba in Kuwait, where a drone attack killed six soldiers 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, sustained heavier losses: Iranian attacks made most of its hangars inoperable, destroyed the base gym in March and hit a store where troops buy products in late July. A strike has also severely damaged the garage and dining room there, according to the two regional officials.

Iran prioritized striking at the backbone of the U.S. air defense system, targeting key early-warning radars that are difficult and expensive to repair or replace, said N.R. Jenzen-Jones, director of the technical intelligence consulting firm Armament Research Services. Within the first two days of the war’s start in late February, Iran destroyed enclosures protecting U.S. radar systems at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait and Naval Support Activity Bahrain, and hit portable radars at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia and Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan. Hitting such sites was likely “intended to disrupt and degrade the U.S. and allies’ ability to respond to further strikes,” Jenzen-Jones said.

The radar hit in Jordan is said to have been destroyed. Manufacturer Raytheon said the Army possesses only 13 of them globally, and budget documents show each costs about half a billion dollars. Another radar, in Qatar, was significantly damaged, though it is unclear whether it was destroyed. Qatar purchased it in a 2013 deal valued at $1.1 billion, and it appears to have been the only one of its kind in the region.

After striking the radars, Iran launched more than 50 successful strikes on 18 locations with U.S. military equipment in the war’s first month, prioritizing areas with aircraft, the analysis found. The two regional officials said Iran damaged refueling aircraft, communications systems, fuel bunkers and troop accommodations at various bases. A March strike on Prince Sultan Air Base damaged the back half of a Boeing E-3 Sentry surveillance aircraft, and another strike hit a CIA unit at the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh.

A regional military official who recently visited the Saudi air base described a severely damaged facility, with scattered debris, broken construction materials and bombed-out barracks and mess halls. The official said the attack that hit the surveillance plane also damaged several other aircraft, including two aerial refueling tankers. A Congressional Research Service report updated in October said 15 U.S. aircraft had been damaged on regional bases. Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates, about 20 miles south of Abu Dhabi, was hit frequently early in the war, according to a second regional military official with direct knowledge of the damage, who cited damage to aircraft hangars and other installations as well as to an early-warning radar system and surveillance drones.

Visual confirmation of the destruction has been constrained. Major satellite providers with U.S. contracts have blocked or delayed public release of imagery at the request of American officials, who sometimes cited national security risks, leaving few options until imagery could be obtained from OneAtlas, a satellite provider owned by Airbus. For Camp Buehring, one of the hardest-hit bases, reliable high-quality imagery was not available until late August; from the halt of imagery in early March to its reemergence, more than 30 structures on the base were damaged or destroyed. The AP confirmed Iran struck Camp Buehring numerous times in March, April, May and July.

Raphael Cohen, director of the National Security Program at the RAND School of Public Policy, said American matériel losses were inevitable given the way wars are fought today, which makes all militaries “susceptible to large-scale, cheap drone attacks.” “This should be a wake-up call for the United States,” Cohen said. No endgame for the war has been articulated, and both the U.S. and Iran say renewed hostilities are possible. “This is the operating environment that we’re going to face in the future,” Cohen said. “The idea that we can rely on fixed infrastructure in the way that we have during the global war on terrorism is over.”