New leaked images obtained exclusively by CBS News have pulled back the curtain on what multiple active-duty US service members allege is a deliberate effort by the US government to downplay the severe scope of damage Iran has inflicted on American military assets across the Middle East. The images, shared by anonymous deployed personnel, offer visual confirmation of far greater destruction than the public has been told of to date.
One clear photo captured at Saudi Arabia’s Prince Sultan Air Force Base documents a direct strike on the rear section of a Boeing E-3 Sentry four-engine airborne early warning aircraft. Additional imagery from the same base shows gutted barracks and operational buildings left hollowed by Iranian attacks. The pattern of unreported destruction extends to Kuwait’s Camp Buehring, where photos also show significant damage to US infrastructure.
“This is major damage to our bases that hasn’t been communicated to the American public,” one anonymous active service member told CBS. “We’re standing there with our eyes closed getting punched in the face.”
The allegations of public understatement come amid longstanding criticism that US officials have minimized the impact of Iranian retaliation for ongoing military operations tied to the US-Israel campaign against Iran, which began in February of this year. Beyond the unreported infrastructure damage, growing alarms have sounded over the massive depletion of US munitions stockpiles caused by the sustained conflict.
A declassified report released Monday by the US Department of War’s Office of the Inspector General, submitted for congressional review, confirms these growing concerns, explicitly acknowledging that the conflict has created critical strategic ammunition “shortfalls” for the US. “The munitions expenditure on OEF [Operation Epic Fury] has resulted in strategic inventory shortfalls and revealed industrial base bottlenecks for munitions resupply,” the inspector general’s report states.
To address the growing gaps and production delays, the Pentagon has launched efforts to cut red tape in procurement, reduce manufacturing lead times, and build up stockpiles of critical materials, components, and high-demand munitions, the report adds. However, the document also warns that scaling up domestic defense production requires extended lead times, meaning shortfalls could persist for years.
Notably, the inspector general’s findings directly contradict public claims made by US President Donald Trump and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, who have repeatedly stated the conflict has not created any munitions shortages for the US. This is not the first time unaddressed stockpile gaps have been reported: in the opening weeks of the conflict, Middle East Eye first revealed that US missile interceptor stockpiles were stretched so thin that allied Gulf states were placed on waiting lists for requested defense systems.
The inspector general’s report also catalogs far heavier losses to US air and naval assets than previous official statements acknowledged. It confirms four F-15 fighter jets have been completely destroyed, one F-35 stealth fighter has sustained damage, seven KC-135 aerial refueling tankers have been damaged, and as many as 30 MQ-9 Reaper surveillance and strike drones have been lost to Iranian attacks. The report also verifies that Iran has carried out targeted drone and ballistic missile strikes on the US Navy’s primary regional logistics hub based in Bahrain.
Across all US military installations in seven Middle Eastern nations—Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman, and Jordan—the report documents that hundreds of buildings and structures have been either damaged or destroyed by Iranian retaliatory strikes. Officials have not yet determined whether all damaged bases will be fully reconstructed, nor has a clear plan been finalized to cover the costs of repairs, which are not included in the current estimated war price tag.
The report pegs current documented war costs at approximately $33.4 billion, a figure that excludes additional infrastructure repair expenses. Of that total, $3.7 billion is tied to lost and destroyed equipment, while $22.3 billion accounts for munitions expended since the conflict began.