AZE.US
The United States may have lost military hardware worth nearly $5 billion during the first month of the war with Iran, according to an estimate published by Anadolu.
The report put the figure at roughly $4.83 billion, based on compiled data tied to aircraft losses, drone shootdowns, damaged radar systems and other strategic assets hit during the opening phase of the conflict.
Among the most costly incidents cited in the assessment was the reported destruction of a US E-3G Sentry airborne warning and control aircraft, a major battlefield coordination platform whose replacement value runs into hundreds of millions of dollars.
The estimate also included losses involving KC-135 refueling aircraft, MQ-9 Reaper drones, a Black Hawk helicopter and multiple radar components linked to US missile defense and early warning systems deployed across the region.
A large share of the total comes from damage attributed to radar infrastructure, including components associated with THAAD missile defense systems and other high-value surveillance assets stationed at key US facilities in the Middle East.
If accurate, the scale of the losses would mark a serious material setback for Washington, not only because of the price tag but because many of the affected systems are difficult and time-consuming to replace.
The figure cited by Anadolu is an estimate rather than an official Pentagon accounting, but it underscores how quickly the financial and operational cost of the war may be rising for the United States.
Beyond the headline number, the report adds to a broader picture of a conflict that is no longer defined only by missile exchanges and airstrikes, but by visible attrition of expensive military hardware on both the tactical and strategic levels.
For Washington, that carries consequences well beyond immediate battlefield losses. Damage to surveillance aircraft, refueling platforms, drones and radar systems can weaken operational flexibility across the region and raise the cost of sustaining a prolonged campaign.
In that sense, the near-$5 billion estimate is significant not just as a financial benchmark, but as a sign that the war is beginning to bite into the core architecture of US power projection in the Middle East.