Pentagon watchdog details scale of damage and cost from Operation Epic Fury

A new assessment from the Department of Defense Office of the Inspector General (IG) offers one of the first official accounting of the war in Iran, which began Feb. 28, and the picture it paints is costly: hundreds of damaged or destroyed U.S. buildings, dozens of lost aircraft, and a $33.4 billion price tag with no dedicated congressional appropriation behind it.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees American forces in the Middle East, told investigators that Iranian strikes damaged and destroyed hundreds of buildings and structures at U.S. bases across Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman, and Jordan. The report offered no further detail on the military facilities, but the State Department said diplomatic sites in four countries sustained roughly $184 million in physical damage, including more than 600 attacks on facilities in Iraq and strikes on the embassies in Kuwait City and Riyadh.

Where the money stands

Pentagon estimates put the operation’s cost at $33.4 billion as of June 29, comprising $22.3 billion in expended munitions, $3.7 billion in equipment losses, and $7.4 billion above CENTCOM’s normal operating expenses. Notably, that figure excludes infrastructure repair, which the Department of Defense has not yet estimated pending decisions on the region’s future posture and how costs might be shared with allies and partners.

Because Congress has not appropriated dedicated funding, the Pentagon is drawing on routine accounts such as training and maintenance budgets — a setup the IG flagged as making the war’s total cost difficult to calculate.

Transportation is feeling the strain as well. U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) flew more than 1,500 missions, surging to 30–40 daily airlift missions into CENTCOM’s area of responsibility at peak, at a cost of nearly $2.4 billion as of June 30. While services have largely reimbursed those obligations, USTRANSCOM anticipates delayed payments as service funding depletes without a supplemental appropriation.

Aircraft losses and casualties

The IG confirmed that dozens of U.S. manned and unmanned aircraft were destroyed or damaged, citing a Congressional Research Service report vetted by CENTCOM as of Aug. 24. The destroyed list includes four F-15Es, an A-10, four AH-6 helicopters, an AH-64, an MH-60, an MQ-4C drone, and as many as 30 MQ-9 Reapers.

The report listed 18 U.S. military deaths as of Aug. 27. The Pentagon reported 417 wounded as of June 30, though figures released in late August put the total at 774.

The war’s munitions-heavy cost profile touches the wider defence industrial base. Among companies supplying ordnance-related products, National Presto Industries (NPK) — which operates a defence segment alongside its housewares business — closed recently at $144.01, down 1.72% on the day, with a market capitalization near $1.06 billion.

What to watch

• Whether Congress moves on a supplemental appropriation for the operation, which would affect how costs are tracked and reimbursed.
• Updated DoD estimates once the department determines its future regional posture and construction plans for damaged bases.
• Revisions to casualty and aircraft-loss figures in subsequent IG reporting.
• Potential cost-sharing arrangements with allies and partners for base reconstruction.

Source: original release