US has lost or sustained damage to 81 military aircraft worth up to $3.3 billion in Iran war, congressional report says国会报告称，美国在伊朗战争中损失或受损的军用飞机达81架，价值高达33亿美元。
That’s almost double the 42 aircraft the non-partisan agency counted in a report released six months ago.
Senior Airman Edgar Grimaldo/US Air Force/File
The United States military has had 81 aircraft destroyed or damaged in the war with Iran , a Congressional Research Service report released this week says.
The number includes both airplanes and helicopters as well as drones, with the MQ-9 Reaper drone – used for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, close air support and combat search and rescue – accounting for more than half of the losses.
But also on the list are some of the Pentagon’s most-prized assets, including an F-35A fighter jet and an E-3 Sentry , the four-engine jet with a large radar dome atop the fuselage used for target tracking and airspace management.
The total cost of the aircraft lost is between $1.9 billion and $3.3 billion, depending on the Defense Department’s plans for replacements, the report said, citing figures from the Congressional Budget Office.
The total cost of the war is much higher – at least $45 billion, sources have told CNN . That figure doesn’t include damage to infrastructure at US bases in the region, including those where some of the aircraft losses happened .
Some of the aircraft included in the count may have been returned to service, including eight F-15 Strike Eagle fighter jets that sustained light damage in an Iranian strike on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, Jordan, in September.
The report is based on numbers contained in statements from the Defense Department; its inspector general; US Central Command, which has been conducting the operations against Iran; and news reports reviewed by the CRS.
The report poses several questions for congressional consideration, including whether lawmakers are getting enough information from the Pentagon on the losses to determine effects and remedies.
Defense Department reporting on Iran war losses has , to date, been vague. Even the Pentagon inspector general’s report on the losses, released in September, and covering action from February 28 to June 30, cites previous CRS reports for some of its aircraft loss numbers.
Other issues Congress needs to think about are whether to provide funding for repairs or replacements; whether there is enough industrial capacity to satisfy those requirements; and the effects on US military sales to foreign partners.
It also raises questions about how the Iran war has affected US posture outside the Middle East.
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“Congress may assess whether losses in certain high-demand platforms that are aging and limited in number, such as the E-3 Sentry, create capability gaps or increase risk in other theaters,” the report says.
Analysts have said actions in the Middle East, including the Iran war and earlier confrontations with the Houthi rebels in Yemen, an Iranian proxy group, have taken an especially heavy toll on the MQ-9 drones, which Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach told Congress earlier this year was the military’s “most valuable player” in the war with Iran.
Forty-five have been lost in the Middle East this year, “an alarming rate,” according to a September report from the Atlantic Council .
The Air Force has lost about 35% of its MQ-9s since 2004, it says.
美国空军高级飞行员埃德加·格里马尔多/美国空军/档案照片
美国国会研究服务处本周发布的一份报告称，在与伊朗的战争中，美军已有 81 架飞机被摧毁或损坏。
该数字包括飞机、直升机和无人机，其中用于情报、监视和侦察、近距离空中支援和战斗搜救的 MQ-9“死神”无人机造成的损失超过一半。
但名单上也包括五角大楼的一些最珍贵的资产，包括一架 F-35A 战斗机和一架 E-3 哨兵预警机，这架四引擎喷气式飞机机身顶部有一个大型雷达罩，用于目标跟踪和空域管理。
报告援引国会预算办公室的数据称，损失的飞机总成本在 19 亿美元至 33 亿美元之间，具体取决于国防部的替换计划。
据CNN报道，战争的总成本远不止于此——至少达450亿美元。这一数字还不包括该地区美军基地基础设施的损失，包括一些飞机损失发生的基地。
统计中包括的一些飞机可能已经恢复服役，其中包括 8 架 F-15 攻击鹰战斗机，这些飞机在 9 月份伊朗对约旦穆瓦法克萨尔蒂空军基地的袭击中受到轻微损坏。
该报告基于国防部、其监察长、负责对伊朗开展行动的美国中央司令部以及国会研究服务处审查的新闻报道中的数据。
该报告向国会提出了几个问题供其考虑，包括立法者是否从五角大楼获得了足够的损失信息，以确定损失的影响和补救措施。
迄今为止，国防部关于伊朗战争损失的报告一直含糊不清。即使是五角大楼监察长9月份发布的关于2月28日至6月30日期间战争损失的报告，其部分飞机损失数据也引用了国会研究服务处（CRS）之前的报告。
国会需要考虑的其他问题包括：是否提供资金用于维修或更换；是否有足够的工业产能来满足这些需求；以及对美国向外国伙伴出售军火的影响。
这也引发了人们对伊朗战争如何影响美国在中东以外地区的姿态的疑问。
阿米尔侯赛因·霍尔古伊/ISNA/美联社
特朗普将伊朗逼到了墙角。伊朗政权毫不退让。
报告称：“国会可能会评估，某些需求量大、老旧且数量有限的平台（例如 E-3 哨兵预警机）的损失是否会造成能力差距或增加其他战区的风险。”
分析人士表示，中东地区的行动，包括伊朗战争以及此前与也门胡塞武装（伊朗的代理组织）的冲突，对MQ-9无人机造成了特别沉重的打击。美国空军参谋长肯尼斯·威尔斯巴赫将军今年早些时候告诉国会，MQ-9无人机是美军在对伊战争中最有价值的武器。
据大西洋理事会9月份的一份报告显示，今年已有45人在中东丧生，“这是一个令人震惊的数字”。
报告称，自 2004 年以来，美国空军损失了约 35% 的 MQ-9 无人机。