At least 42 U.S. aircraft, including fighter jets and drones, were lost or damaged during Operation Epic Fury launched on February 28 targeting Iran, according to an official report.

The number of aircraft damaged or destroyed may remain subject to revision due to multiple factors, including classification, ongoing combat activity, and attribution, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) report said.

The aircraft losses and damages include four F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jets, one F-35A Lightning II fighter aircraft, one A-10 Thunderbolt II ground-attack aircraft, seven KC-135 Stratotanker aerial refuelling aircraft, one E-3 Sentry AWACS aircraft, two MC-130J Commando II special operations aircraft, one HH-60W Jolly Green II helicopter, 24 MQ-9 Reaper drones and one MQ-4C Triton drone.

The CRS, which provides policy and legal analysis to the U.S. Congress and committees, compiled the losses by perusing news reports and statements by the Department of Defence and the U.S. Central Command.

During a hearing of the House Appropriations subcommittee on May 12, Acting Pentagon Comptroller Jules W Hurst III testified that the department’s cost estimate for military operations in Iran has increased to $29 billion.

“A lot of that increase comes from having a refined estimate on repair or replacement costs for equipment,” he said.

The number ​of U.S. troops wounded in the ‌war against Iran has ​risen to about 200, the ⁠U.S. military said on Monday (March 16, 2026), as the conflict entered its third ‌week.

Reuters first reported last week that as many ‌as 150 U.S. troops have ‌been ⁠wounded in the conflict, ⁠highlighting the danger from Iranian retaliatory strikes.

Iran-Israel war updates on March 16, 2026

In a statement, the U.S. military’s ​Central Command ‌said the vast majority suffered minor injuries and 180 troops had already returned to duty.

In addition ‌to the wounded, 13 ​U.S. troops have been killed since Iran launched retaliatory ⁠strikes against U.S. military bases following the start of the ‌conflict on February 28.

Iranian attacks have also struck diplomatic missions as well as hotels and airports and damaged energy infrastructure in Arab Gulf states.

The ‌United States has carried out ​strikes against more than 7,000 targets in Iran. Last ⁠week, Mr. Trump said the U.S. hit military ⁠sites at Kharg Island, the Iranian outpost ‌that handles 90% of the country’s oil exports. 

Three U.S. service members have ​been killed and another five have been seriously wounded, in ‌the first casualties of the unfolding U.S. operations against ​Iran, the U.S. military said on ⁠Sunday (March 1, 2026). The casualties were announced on the second day of strikes by the U.S. and Israel against Iran, which have plunged the ‌Middle East into a new, unpredictable conflict that has already led to the death of Iran’s Supreme ‌Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

U.S.-Israel war in Iran: Follow LIVE updates on March 1, 2026

The U.S. military’s Central Command ‌said ⁠in a statement on Sunday (March 1, 2026) that U.S. troops ⁠suffered additional, less serious injuries as well.

“Several others sustained minor shrapnel injuries and concussions – and are in the process of being returned to ​duty. Major combat operations continue ‌and our response effort is ongoing,” Central Command said in a statement on X.

It declined to offer specifics of how the U.S. forces were killed and wounded, ‌but Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have launched blistering rounds of ​drones and missiles at targets throughout West Asia.

On Sunday (March 1, 2026) morning, Iran said it had ⁠launched an attack on the U.S. aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln with four ballistic missiles, state media reported. Central Command said the ‌ship was not hit and that Iran’s missiles didn’t come close.

The U.S. deaths are the first combat-related fatalities suffered by the U.S. military in major operations ordered by President Donald Trump since he returned to office last year. The U.S. bombing of Iran’s nuclear sites last June ‌and the U.S. military’s seizure of Venezuela’s president in January led ​to no U.S. fatalities.

Mr. Trump had warned on Saturday (February 28, 2026) that there could be U.S. casualties. “My administration has taken ⁠every possible step to minimize the risk to U.S. personnel ⁠in the region,” he said.

“Even so, and I do not make this statement lightly, the Iranian ‌regime seeks to kill. The lives of courageous American heroes may be lost, and we may have ​casualties. That often happens in war,” Mr. Trump added.