Since the United States and Israel began striking thousands of targets in Iran more than three weeks ago, billions of dollars worth of high-tech military equipment has been lost or significantly damaged, writes the "Wall Street Journal", quoted by BTA.
The American daily notes that most of the damage on the ground was caused by Iranian ballistic missiles and drones.
Damage from combat operations and restoration of losses in the first three weeks of the war is likely to cost an estimated $1.4 billion to $2.9 billion, according to Elaine McCusker, a senior Pentagon budget official during the first Trump administration who has tracked the costs of the conflict for the American Enterprise Institute. The higher estimate includes damage to a Qatari radar stationed at a U.S. air base in the country.
Here are some of the weapons and platforms the Pentagon would likely seek to replace in its $200 billion Iran spending request it sent to the White House.
A Kuwaiti F/A-18 Hornet fighter jet mistakenly shot down three U.S. F-15E Strike Eagles on March 1—all six crew members ejected safely. Today, a new F-15 costs about $100 million.
A U.S. F-35A Lightning II fighter jet made an emergency landing on March 19, and its pilot is in stable condition. Iran says it fired on the plane. The F-35A costs about $82.5 million.
Six crew members of an Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker tanker died when their plane crashed after colliding with another KC-135 over Iraq on March 12. Five more KC-135s were damaged during an Iranian missile strike on Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. The damaged aircraft are being repaired.
Boeing hasn't produced the KC-135 since the 1960s, so the Air Force will likely replace the lost aircraft with the KC-46 Pegasus, a tanker aircraft based on a modified 767 airliner. The KC-46 costs about $165 million.
More than a dozen MQ-9 Reaper drones have been lost since the war began. That includes at least eight shot down by Iranian missiles, three destroyed on the ground by Iranian missiles, and one mistakenly shot down by a Gulf state. Additional Reapers have been damaged. The Air Force's MQ-9s, which cost at least $16 million each, are no longer manufactured by General Atomics. The newer MQ-9B SkyGuardian drones are being produced for the United States and its allies, costing about $30 million each.
Although not damaged in combat, a fire broke out on March 12 on the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford. The fire started in the main laundry room and spread to other parts of the ship, including the sailors' sleeping quarters. The ship is now in port in Souda Bay, Greece, where it will be repaired.
Iran has hit an AN/TPY-2 radar, which is part of the THAAD missile defense battery in Jordan. The radar, which is used to track ballistic missiles, is estimated to cost at least $300 million.
Iran has also attacked radars, communications and air defense systems in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, including damaging the Qatari AN/FPS-132 early warning radar at Al Udeid Air Base. The radar, which can track multiple targets simultaneously, is estimated to cost about $1 billion.