U.S. Media: The Damage to U.S. Military Assets in the Middle East "Far Exceeds Reported Numbers"

Reference News Network reported on May 9 According to a report by the U.S. "Washington Post" website on May 6, an analysis of satellite images by the "Washington Post" shows that since the start of the Iran war, Iranian airstrikes have damaged or destroyed at least 228 buildings or pieces of equipment at multiple U.S. military bases in the Middle East, including hangars, barracks, fuel depots, aircraft, as well as critical radar, communication, and air defense equipment. The extent of the damage is far greater than what the U.S. government has publicly acknowledged or what previous media reports have indicated.

The Iranian official news agency has been regularly posting high-resolution satellite images on its social media accounts since the beginning of the war, claiming that these document the damage to U.S. military bases.

The "Washington Post" reviewed over 100 high-resolution satellite images released by Iran and compared them with mid- to low-resolution images from the EU's "Copernicus" satellite system, as well as high-resolution images available from the U.S. company Planet Labs, verifying the authenticity of 109 of the images. Investigators found no signs of alteration in any of the images released by Iran.

In another search of images from Planet Labs, reporters discovered 10 instances of damage or destruction not recorded in the images released by Iran. The "Washington Post" found a total of 217 buildings and 11 pieces of equipment damaged or destroyed across 15 U.S. military bases in the region.

Experts indicate that the damage to these bases suggests that the U.S. military has underestimated Iran's strike capabilities, has not adequately adapted to modern drone warfare, and has insufficient protection for some bases.

Mark Cancian, a senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a retired Marine Corps colonel, said, "Iran's attacks are very precise, showing no signs of random craters from missed targets."

The U.S. Central Command, responsible for operations in the Middle East, declined to comment on the findings submitted by the "Washington Post." A military spokesperson dismissed experts' assessments of widespread damage to the bases or inadequate U.S. responses, stating that damage assessments are complex and can sometimes be misleading, but refused to provide specific information.

Satellite images show that among the U.S. military bases observed by the "Washington Post," more than half had a significant number of barracks, hangars, or warehouses damaged or destroyed in airstrikes.

"Iranians have 'deliberately targeted accommodation buildings' at multiple bases, aiming to 'cause mass casualties,'" investigator William Goodhind stated after reviewing the images, "The targets hit included not only equipment, fuel depots, and airbase infrastructure but also soft targets like gyms, dining halls, and living quarters."

Among the reported damage, more than half occurred at the Fifth Fleet headquarters and three bases in Kuwait—Ali Al Salem Air Base, Arifjan Military Camp, and Blanding Camp. The Arifjan Military Camp serves as the regional headquarters for the U.S. Army.

A U.S. official stated that the military bases in Bahrain and Kuwait suffered the most severe strikes.

Experts suggest that the vulnerability of U.S. military bases in the face of Iranian attacks may be due to multiple factors.

Experts believe the primary reason is that Iranian forces are more resilient than the Trump administration anticipated. Kelly Grieco, a senior fellow at the Stimson Center, stated that the U.S. military underestimated "the extent of intelligence Iran had on U.S. fixed facilities prior to the attacks."

Grieco noted that this operation also failed to adequately consider the extent to which U.S. and Israeli air defense munitions were depleted during the 12-day conflict with Iran last June.

Additionally, experts believe the U.S. military has not sufficiently adapted to the use of suicide drones, a lesson military planners should have learned from the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

They also pointed out structural issues, including a lack of sufficient hardened shelters to protect troops and equipment at critical locations and potential attack sites.

For example, a tactical operations center in Kuwait had almost no overhead protection or concealment, leading to the deaths of six U.S. service members during an Iranian drone attack in early March.

Satellite images show that at the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, an E-3 early warning and control aircraft appeared to be parked repeatedly in the same unprotected location, ultimately being destroyed.

Maximilian Bremer, a researcher at the Stimson Center and a retired Air Force officer, stated that the attacks on U.S. military bases in the region have forced military planners to make new trade-offs: whether to relocate troops to safer locations, which would limit operational capabilities, or to maintain the status quo at the bases and accept the risk of potentially more casualties.

"We have moved from an era of stealth to one where the entire battlefield is semi-transparent and increasingly approaching full transparency," Bremer said, "It feels like we should be on the offensive, but around these bases, we are definitely on the defensive." (Translated by Zhu Li)