Newly leaked photographs reportedly taken by American service members appear to expose the extensive damage inflicted by Iranian attacks on US military bases across the Middle East.
The previously unpublished images show destroyed aircraft, burned-out buildings, crushed trailers and scorched vehicles at US facilities in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait after missile and drone strikes during the seven-month conflict.
Among the most dramatic images is a photograph of a Boeing E-3 Sentry surveillance aircraft at Prince Sultan Air Force Base in Saudi Arabia, its rear section apparently ripped apart by a direct strike.
The four-engine aircraft’s tail appears to have been torn away from the blackened fuselage. Its distinctive radar system, which is used to track aircraft, identify targets and collect crucial battlefield intelligence, also appears to have suffered severe damage.
Wreckage and debris can be seen scattered across the ground around the crippled aircraft.
The photographs were provided to CBS News by active-duty service members, who asked not to be identified because they are restricted from speaking publicly.
‘This is major damage to our bases that hasn’t been communicated to the American public,’ one deployed service member told the network.
‘We’re standing there with our eyes closed getting punched in the face.’
An image appears to show a US Air Force E-3G Sentry aircraft left in ruins at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia following an Iranian missile and drone strike in March.
The aircraft’s usual appearance is shown here. The Air Force E-3 Sentry serves as an airborne command center and radar platform, providing surveillance and target detection.
Other photographs from Prince Sultan appear to show buildings and barracks torn apart by Iranian strikes, with roofs ripped open and rooms exposed to the elements.
Concrete ‘T-walls’ – barriers designed to protect personnel and infrastructure from explosions such as mortar and grenade attacks – can be seen standing beside some of the wreckage.
The images underscore the challenges posed by missiles and drones raining down from above.
The devastation is not confined to Saudi Arabia. Photographs taken at Camp Buehring in Kuwait show even more destruction.
The base is a major staging point for US Army troops, armored vehicles and aircraft.
One image shows a burned-out vehicle, while another captures rows of trailers apparently flattened by a strike.
At Camp Arifjan, also in Kuwait, a multi-story building appears badly damaged.
Another image shows thick, dark smoke billowing into the sky from what appears to be a large tent-like structure.
A destroyed US Air Force Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft, primarily used for air traffic control, is seen in ruins following an Iranian strike at Prince Sultan Airbase in Saudi Arabia in March
Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have repeatedly emphasized the effectiveness of the US campaign and its defenses, even as the newly disclosed images and Pentagon figures reveal substantial damage has been inflicted on American forces
The Pentagon’s own watchdog has now provided official evidence of how widespread Iranian attacks have been.
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US Central Command reported strikes against American bases in eight countries – Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman and Jordan, according to the Defense Department inspector general’s first report to Congress on Operation Epic Fury.
The inspector general put equipment losses at as much as $3.7 billion, including nearly 60 aircraft, according to CBS News.
The report also estimated that Operation Epic Fury had cost $33.4 billion between February 28 and June 30, with a staggering $22.3 billion spent on munitions alone.
‘The munitions expenditure on OEF has resulted in strategic inventory shortfalls and revealed industrial base bottlenecks for munitions resupply,’ the watchdog warned.
The disclosures are particularly striking because the Trump administration has repeatedly emphasized the effectiveness of American operations against Iran while publicly saying far less about damage inflicted on US forces.
President Donald Trump has argued that the campaign is necessary to prevent Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and has repeatedly portrayed Iran’s military capabilities as having been devastated.
‘Iran is officially a Failed Nation,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social last month, claiming the country had ‘no Navy’ and ‘no Air Force,’ while describing its leadership as being in ‘total disarray.’
But the leaked photographs offer a dramatic glimpse of the damage inflicted on the other side of the conflict.
Personnel in protective suits inspect a heavily damaged aircraft, its radar section ripped apart in what appears to be a targeted strike on critical systems last March
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth previously used the term ‘squirter’ to describe an occasional Iranian weapon that managed to evade US defenses.
The remark came after the deadly March 1 attack on the Port of Shuaiba in Kuwait, which killed six American troops.
The service member who provided the latest photographs disputed that characterization.
‘These are not ‘squirters’ getting through,’ the service member told CBS News.
‘We’re not defending these bases. We’re just watching them get destroyed.’
US facilities elsewhere in the region have also sustained damage.
CBS News reported last week that Iranian strikes against Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan damaged multiple American aircraft, including an A-10 Thunderbolt that lost a wing.
Around eight F-15 fighter jets suffered lighter damage and were subsequently returned to service, according to people with direct knowledge of the incident.
Prince Sultan Air Base itself has previously come under heavy attack.
Ten American service members were injured there during an Iranian missile-and-drone assault in March, US officials told CBS News at the time.