An updated Congressional Research Service report now puts the number of U.S. military aircraft lost or damaged in Operation Epic Fury at 81, nearly double the 42 aircraft it counted in May. The Oct. 5 revision adds jets hit in a September Iranian strike on a base in Jordan, helicopter losses drawn from a Pentagon inspector general report and a sharply higher number of lost Reaper drones.
The revision matters because it changes the scale of the campaign in plain numbers. The report covers aircraft losses and damage since the United States launched Operation Epic Fury on Feb. 28, and its new total spans jets, helicopters, transports and drones rather than a single mishap or one type of aircraft.
That scale is easiest to see in the details. The deadliest loss on the list remains the March 12 crash of a KC-135 Stratotanker in western Iraq, which killed all six crew members. Elsewhere in the count, one KC-135 made an emergency landing at Ben Gurion Airport in Israel, and U.S. Central Command said that loss was not the result of hostile or friendly fire. Another of the seven KC-135s in the report was involved in an incident over friendly airspace.
The human cost runs through the aircraft log as well. An MH-60S Sea Hawk from the aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush made an emergency landing in the Arabian Sea on July 1. The Navy said there was no indication of hostile action, and three of the four crew members were recovered. The fourth was identified as Cmdr. Gabriel Edwards, the commanding officer of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 5. Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao directed that Edwards be posthumously promoted to captain.
Other entries show how the total grew beyond direct combat losses. An F-15E Strike Eagle shot down over Iran was one of 12 Strike Eagles on the list, and both crew members were rescued in separate search-and-rescue operations. An A-10 Thunderbolt II supporting the rescue mission crashed after taking enemy fire, although the pilot flew the damaged jet out of Iran and ejected over friendly territory before being quickly recovered. An HH-60W Jolly Green II in the same task force was damaged by small-arms fire, and the second F-15E crew member was rescued nearly two days later in a separate special operations mission.
The report’s own caution sits underneath the new total. CRS says the 81-aircraft figure is not a count of destroyed aircraft, and that some damaged aircraft may have returned to active service. It also says the tally can still change because of classification, ongoing combat activity and attribution. That is why the sharper number is real news today, but not the final word on what Operation Epic Fury has cost the air arm of the United States.
Public reporting and defense statements still leave the central unanswered question: how many of the 81 aircraft were permanently lost and how many went back to service after repairs. Until that is separated out, the count shows the breadth of the damage more clearly than its final price.
