Photos show widespread damage at US sites from Iranian attacks
Leaked military photos reveal extensive damage to US bases in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, including a destroyed Boeing E-3 Sentry radar aircraft, following Iranian strikes.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
- Leaked photos reveal severe damage to multiple US bases in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait from Iranian strikes.
- A Boeing E-3 Sentry radar aircraft worth $500m was torn in half at Prince Sultan Air Base.
- A Pentagon watchdog report confirmed hundreds of damaged structures and $3.7bn in equipment losses.
- The US House of Representatives voted for the third time to force an end to military action.
Images displaying extensive damage to multiple US sites in the Middle East resulting from Iranian strikes have been obtained by CBS, the US partner of the BBC. Provided by active military personnel, the photographs reveal a severed radar jet, flattened trailers, and severely battered infrastructure.
The undated photos were captured at US military bases and facilities located in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. One anonymous service member told CBS that the material depicts major damage to American bases that had not been communicated to the public. The White House redirected inquiries to the US Central Command (Centcom), which did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Published a day after a Pentagon watchdog report confirmed that hundreds of buildings and structures at Middle Eastern bases had been damaged or destroyed by Iran, the pictures highlight specific high-value losses. One image shows a destroyed Boeing E-3 Sentry at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, situated roughly 62 miles (100km) south-east of Riyadh, its tail section crumpled into a tangled mass of metal.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
"This is major damage to our bases that hasn't been communicated to the American public."
Boeing E-3 Awacs aircraft are deployed to detect and track long-range targets, providing early warnings against prospective threats. At the time of the initial incidents, a US official informed Reuters that 12 American personnel sustained injuries, two of them serious, during an Iranian strike on the air base.
The visual confirmation of destroyed high-value assets like the Boeing E-3 Sentry underscores acute vulnerabilities in regional air defense networks. Because the E-3 is no longer in production, replacing it with modern equivalents such as the E-7 incurs massive financial and temporal costs, compounding strategic strains as Washington diverts military resources away from Asia to cope with Middle Eastern escalations.
The Pentagon document noted that overall equipment losses have totaled $3.7bn (£2.8bn), while total war spending reached $33.4bn (£24.7bn) up to June 29. In the months following the outbreak of hostilities, dozens of American aircraft were destroyed or damaged on the ground, including five refueling aircraft hit in Saudi Arabia by Iranian munitions.
Public and political pressure has intensified on the White House to conclude the conflict with Iran, which erupted on February 28 following joint US-Israeli strikes. Since then, Iran has repeatedly targeted US bases and Gulf allies. On Tuesday night, the US House of Representatives voted for the third time to end the war, approving a measure designed to compel President Donald Trump to halt military actions without congressional authorization.
Source: BBC World
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