Iranian strikes damaged and destroyed hundreds of buildings and structures astatine US subject bases crossed the Middle East this year, a caller Defense Department watchdog study has revealed.
The Pentagon inspector general's report, released connected Monday evening, offers a caller look astatine the effect of the Iran war, including the scope of harm caused by Tehran's strikes against the US pursuing the commencement of associated American-Israeli subject action earlier this year.
US bases successful Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman, and Jordan took damage, the study said. It cited accusation shared by US Central Command, which oversees American subject operations successful the Middle East.
The study to Congress, which covers developments betwixt April 1 and June 30, does not opportunity really overmuch it could costs to repair those facilities. It did acknowledge, however, that Iranian attacks connected US negotiated accommodation successful 4 countries caused astir $184 cardinal successful damage.
US and partner forces changeable down much than 6,000 Iranian drones and 1,500 ballistic missiles that targeted their locations, but immoderate munitions slipped past their aerial defenses, causing some harm and casualties crossed the region.
Among the accommodation struck during the fighting was a US naval guidelines successful Bahrain, the American Navy's main logistics hub supporting operations successful the region. Tehran targeted the guidelines pinch some ballistic missiles and drones, forcing the US to divert naval sustainment resources from Bahrain to alternate locations.
The study said the constitution of support naval infrastructure "posed important challenges" during Operation Epic Fury, partially owed to uncertainty complete larboard entree from big countries.
Distance was different factor. For instance, CENTCOM shifted logistics support to Diego Garcia, a associated US-UK guidelines successful the Indian Ocean, but that required logistics cycles of much than 2 weeks because of the extended oversea transit, the study said.
These logistical strains affected Navy warships supporting American combat operations, including USS Abraham Lincoln, which faced cardinal proviso issues earlier the craft bearer near the Middle East past month. The Pentagon has faced questions from Democratic lawmakers amid concerns complete unit well-being.
In summation to US subject facilities, dozens of American aircraft were besides damaged aliases destroyed during Operation Epic Fury, including fighters, refueling planes, helicopters, and combat drones, the study said, citing accusation from the Congressional Research Service.
Some of the US craft were struck by Iranian fire connected the crushed astatine their bases, while others were deed successful the air. Some craft were accidentally downed by friends forces. The tally includes up to 30 MQ-9 Reaper drones destroyed "in various circumstances." They are estimated to costs upward of $30 cardinal apiece.
The Department of Defense spent an estimated $33.4 cardinal connected Operation Epic Fury during the play covered by the report, it said. That fig includes $3.7 cardinal successful instrumentality losses.
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Jake Epstein is simply a defense analogous successful London for Business Insider, covering the US military, NATO, and European security, arsenic good arsenic emerging tech successful warfare.Jake has revenge stories from conflict zones in Ukraine and the Middle East, wherever he embedded with a US craft carrier on a combat deployment successful the Red Sea. Jake has reported extensively connected NATO operations crossed Europe, including from aboard an AWACS surveillance plane along the Russian border, an RAF Voyager tanker refueling combatant jets complete the Baltic Sea, and a Dutch helicopter flying to a warship supra the Arctic Circle.
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