Iranian missile and drone attacks have caused widespread damage to US military bases and equipment stationed in the Middle East, according to new photos.
Images sent by active service members in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait depicted destroyed aircraft, collapsed camps, hollowed out buildings and charred vehicles following Iranian airstrikes throughout the course of the war, CBS News reported.
“This is major damage to our bases that hasn’t been communicated to the American public,” one service member told the outlet. “We’re standing there with our eyes closed getting punched in the face.”
One of the photos captured the full damage of the $270 million American E-3 Sentry spy plane that was destroyed following an attack on Saudi Arabia’s Prince Sultan Air Force Base in March.
At the time, the US Air Force had 16 aircraft in circulation, six of which were stationed at the airbase.
Images were also shared of destroyed trailers and cars at Camp Buehring and Camp Arifjan, in Kuwait, where US Army ground troops are stationed.
Camp Arifjan is located just a few miles south of Port Shuaiba, the base where six US troops were killed by Iranian drones during the opening hours of the war.
One of the service members who confirmed that attacks also refuted Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s claim that only a few Iranian strikes were getting through American defenses.
“We’re not defending these bases,” the soldier said. “We’re just watching them get destroyed.”
US Central Command did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
The release of the photos comes just two days after the Defense Department’s Office of Inspector General published its latest report on the costs of the war in Iran.
The report revealed that the total “equipment losses” in the conflict added up to about $3.7 billion, including nearly 60 aircraft.
The report, which also included input from the inspectors general for the State Department and the US Agency for International Development, put the total cost of the first four months of war alone at $33.4 billion, not including money spent on infrastructure repairs.
