US lawmaker says Washington lost 39 aircraft in Iran war, citing defense report

An F-35A hit inside Iranian airspace, an E-3 Sentry destroyed, the Pentagon won't confirm losses

US Democratic Congressman Ed Case said Tuesday that the United States has lost 39 aircraft since the start of the war with Iran on February 28, citing a report from a US defense publication.

Case made the remarks during a special Senate committee hearing while questioning Pentagon Chief Financial Officer Jay Hurst about the extent of damage suffered during the conflict.

“We've lost about 39 aircraft, according to a report in The War Zone, and that's an old one that's almost one month old,” Case said, asking Hurst whether the Pentagon had calculated “a retention cost on all those aircraft.”

Hurst replied: “There are costs there, sir, but I want to get back to you in writing and what they specifically are, because, as you can imagine, repair of aircraft is something that's very hard to calculate.” “We want to do a full diagnosis of the aircraft before we estimate that cost,” he added.

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The report cited by Case, published by US defence news outlet The War Zone, said the US Air Force carried out nearly 13,000 flights during the conflict with Iran.

According to the report, 39 aircraft were destroyed and another 10 sustained varying levels of damage.

The report also claimed that an F-35A Lightning II fighter jet was hit inside Iranian airspace and that a Boeing E-3 Sentry aircraft was destroyed.

The claims could not be independently verified, and Pentagon officials did not publicly confirm the alleged losses during the hearing.

Regional tensions escalated after the United States and Israel launched strikes against Iran on February 28, triggering retaliation from Tehran against Israel and US allies in the Gulf, along with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

A ceasefire took effect on April 8 through mediation by Pakistan, but talks in Islamabad failed to produce a lasting agreement.

The truce was later extended by US President Donald Trump without a set deadline.