42 US Military Aircraft Lost or Damaged in Iran War, Congress Report Finds

A Congressional Research Service assessment documents the aviation cost of the Iran conflict, including four F-15E strike fighters, one F-35A, and an unspecified number of helicopters and drones.

At least 42 U.S. military aircraft have been lost or damaged in the Iran war to date.
The losses include four F-15E fighter jets and one F-35A stealth aircraft.
Helicopters and drones account for additional losses in the CRS count.
The figures come from a Congressional Research Service report, not a Pentagon public release.
No official aggregate loss figure has been issued by the Department of Defense.

At least 42 U.S. military aircraft have been lost or damaged in the ongoing Iran war, according to a report by the Congressional Research Service, a nonpartisan arm of Congress that compiles operational data for legislators on request.

The tally includes four F-15E Strike Eagles and one F-35A, the Air Force’s primary fifth-generation stealth fighter. The remainder of the count encompasses rotary-wing assets and unmanned systems. The CRS did not break down losses by cause — combat damage, operational accident, and air-defense attrition are not disaggregated in the summary figure.

The Department of Defense has not published a consolidated aircraft attrition figure for the conflict. The CRS count, compiled for congressional oversight purposes, represents the most complete public accounting currently on the record.

Forty-two aircraft across a conflict of this duration and intensity is a data point. What it costs per stated objective achieved is a calculation the report does not perform. That calculation remains open.