Images from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait show damaged aircraft, buildings and vehicles as a Pentagon watchdog documents broader losses across the region.
WASHINGTON, DC — Newly released photographs from U.S. military positions in the Middle East show extensive damage caused by Iranian missile and drone attacks, including a badly damaged surveillance aircraft, destroyed trailers and heavily damaged buildings at bases in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
The images, first obtained by CBS News from active-duty service members, provide a closer look at destruction that until recently had received limited public attention. They emerged as a Pentagon inspector general report gave Congress the most detailed official accounting so far of damage to U.S. bases, aircraft and other equipment during the conflict with Iran.
One deployed service member who provided the photographs to CBS News said the scale of the damage had not been fully communicated to the public. “We’re standing there with our eyes closed getting punched in the face,” the service member said. CBS News said the personnel who supplied the images were granted anonymity because of military restrictions on speaking with the media.
At Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, one photograph shows extensive damage to the rear of a Boeing E-3 Sentry, an aircraft used for airborne surveillance, early warning and command operations. Other photographs from the installation show damaged buildings and barracks. Images from Camp Buehring and Camp Arifjan in Kuwait show destroyed trailers, a damaged vehicle and buildings struck during Iranian attacks.
The images are consistent with findings in the Pentagon inspector general’s first quarterly report on Operation Epic Fury. The report, released Sept. 14 and covering developments through June 30, said Iranian attacks damaged or destroyed hundreds of buildings and structures at U.S. bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman and Jordan.
The watchdog also documented heavy losses among U.S. aircraft and drones. According to the report, as many as 30 MQ-9 Reaper drones were destroyed, while seven KC-135 aerial refueling aircraft were damaged or destroyed. Five of the tankers were struck by Iranian weapons while on the ground in Saudi Arabia. CBS News reported that equipment losses covered by the review could total as much as $3.7 billion.
The damage also disrupted U.S. military logistics. The inspector general said attacks on facilities in Bahrain forced U.S. Central Command to rely on alternate supply hubs farther from the conflict, including Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. That change created logistics cycles lasting 14 to 18 days for some operations in the Middle East, according to the report.
Separately obtained images and videos reviewed by ABC News showed damage at three U.S. bases in Kuwait and at Prince Sultan Air Base. A senior U.S. service member told the network that rebuilding some installations could take years. The Pentagon declined to comment to both CBS News and ABC News on their reports about the newly released images.
The photographs have drawn additional attention because military officials have previously emphasized the strength of U.S. defenses while acknowledging that some Iranian missiles and drones could penetrate them. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said after a March attack in Kuwait that an incoming weapon could occasionally make it through U.S. defenses. Six U.S. troops were killed in the March 1 attack at Port Shuaiba, according to subsequent government reporting.
The human toll has continued to rise beyond the period covered by the inspector general’s June 30 cutoff. The Defense Department has reported 18 U.S. service members killed and 824 wounded since the conflict began Feb. 28, according to ABC News. The inspector general’s report, meanwhile, documented 11 troops killed in action through the end of June, along with other service member deaths classified as non-hostile.
The inspector general’s findings and the newly published photographs provide a broader public record of the damage sustained by U.S. forces. Assessments of repair costs are still incomplete, and the inspector general noted that some estimates of the war’s overall cost did not include the full expense of rebuilding damaged infrastructure.
Author note: Last updated September 17, 2026.