Photos obtained by CBS News show damage at US military bases in the Middle East after a series of Iranian attacks. Shared by active-duty personnel, the images show crushed trailers and ruined buildings, along with a severed radar, at American installations in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. The photos are undated and have not been independently verified by the BBC, but they match details in a recent Pentagon watchdog report documenting widespread destruction.
One photo shows a destroyed Boeing E-3 Sentry at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. The loss is impressive because the E-3 is no longer made and would have to be replaced by a newer E-7, information from the Congressional Budget Office. A single E-3 costs about $500 million. The total value of lost equipment has reached $1.9 billion, including aircraft and drones, as well as a THAAD missile defense system.
The Pentagon report, released a day before the images appeared, says Iranian strikes damaged or destroyed hundreds of buildings and structures at US bases across Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman and Jordan. The Pentagon Inspector General said the damage occurred across eight countries during the first four months of the conflict. The financial losses are steep: $3.7 billion in equipment and $33.4 billion in total US war spending as of June 29. Dozens of American aircraft have been destroyed or damaged since the conflict began. That includes five refueling planes hit on the ground in Saudi Arabia. CNN and Breaking Defense report that these figures exclude future repair costs. The Inspector General also noted a serious shortage in US munitions stockpiles due to ongoing operations.
Despite the scale of the damage, little information has reached the US public. A military source told CBS that Americans have not been given the full picture of the destruction. The White House referred questions to US Central Command, which has not responded.
Brian Katulis, a former national security official now at the Middle East Institute, said the images show the US was not adequately prepared to defend its bases. He also suggested China and Russia may have helped Iran pick targets. Katulis criticized the Trump administration for failing to address these weaknesses.
Al Jazeera reports that independent analyses and satellite imagery have confirmed severe damage at the US base in Bahrain, NSA Bahrain, including a strike on its command center. US Navy leadership has publicly acknowledged the extent of the damage, raising questions about the future of the regional headquarters.
The political response has come quickly. The US House of Representatives has voted for the third time to end the war with Iran, passing a measure that would require President Donald Trump to stop military action without congressional approval. Some Republicans supported the bill, but its fate in the Senate remains unclear. On the same day, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie announced an effort to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as new details emerged about the war's cost. The Trump administration has defended Hegseth, with Attorney General Todd Blanche calling his performance "phenomenal."
The conflict began on February 28, when the US and Israel launched joint strikes against Iran. Since then, Iran has repeatedly targeted US bases and allied countries in the Gulf, as well as Israel. The attacks have brought greater scrutiny to US military strategy and spending in the region.
