U.S LOST 39 AIRCRAFTS IN 32 DAYS Of IRAN WAR – U.S LAWMAKER, ED CASE

May 14, 2026 • Dons Eze • 1 min read

US Democratic Congressman Ed Case said Tuesday that the United States has lost 39 aircraft since the start of the war with Iran on Feb. 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.

The report cited by Case, published by US defense 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.

Dons Eze

DONS EZE, PhD, Political Philosopher and Journalist of over four decades standing, worked in several newspaper houses across the country, and rose to the positions of Editor and General Manager. A UNESCO Fellow in Journalism, Dr. Dons Eze, a prolific writer and author of many books, attended several courses on Journalism and Communication in both Nigeria and overseas, including a Postgraduate Course on Journalism at Warsaw, Poland; Strategic Communication and Practical Communication Approach at RIPA International, London, the United Kingdom, among others.