Visual evidence obtained by ABC News reveals significant destruction at American military installations in the Middle East, highlighting the impact of Iranian attacks on US assets in the region. The images depict damaged structures and aircraft across three bases in Kuwait and a facility in Saudi Arabia that hosts US personnel, some of whom were evacuated as the threat escalated.
While the Pentagon has not publicly detailed the full scope of the damage at bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman, and Jordan, satellite imagery has consistently recorded the aftermath of these strikes. Prior to the conflict, the Defense Department implemented preemptive measures to relocate personnel from sites vulnerable to Iranian retaliation.
A senior US service member, speaking on condition of anonymity, told ABC News that the destruction would require “decades” to repair. “I believe the American people are unaware of the extent of the damage that American bases are taking in the Middle East right now due to the conflict with Iran,” the service member said. “These bases have been irreparably damaged. And if we choose to rebuild them, it’s going to be a decades long undertaking.”
The Pentagon declined to comment on the specific imagery provided by the news outlet.
Since the war began on February 28, the Department of Defense reports that 18 service members have been killed and 824 wounded. A report released Monday by the Pentagon inspector general found that “hundreds of buildings and structures” had been damaged at American posts throughout the region. The internal watchdog estimated the war’s cost at $33 billion, while the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office placed the figure at $38 billion.
The deadliest single incident occurred on the second day of the conflict when six US soldiers were killed in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait. These troops had been relocated to the site for enhanced protection but were situated in a largely unfortified area surrounded only by six-foot concrete walls.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has stated that force protection remains a top priority, though he acknowledged that Iranian weapons can breach defenses. Describing the Kuwait strike, Hegseth referred to the penetrating missile as a “squirter” that happened to hit a fortified tactical operation center.
Among the photographs is an image of a damaged E-3 Sentry aircraft at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. The surveillance plane, valued at approximately $270 million, was reportedly hit in late March. Fighting between the US and Iran has remained intermittent since an April ceasefire ended full-scale hostilities that included Israeli forces. US forces have primarily targeted areas along the Strait of Hormuz, while Iran has directed fire mainly at bases in Jordan, Bahrain, Iraq, and Qatar.
In July, Iranian attacks killed three US service members in Jordan and one in Iraq. The anonymous service member criticized the administration’s communication regarding the ongoing warfare, stating, “It’s being kept a secret, and we’re acting like it’s no big deal, but… there are drone strikes and ballistic missile strikes actively landing on bases every day.”
I had no idea the strikes were hitting E-3 Sentry aircraft too. This feels much larger than the occasional report suggests. How did we get here?
Decades to repair? That’s an astronomical cost we can’t ignore. The American public deserves transparency about the actual scale of this damage.