WASHINGTON — Exclusive photographs obtained by CBS News show significant damage at U.S. military installations in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait following Iranian missile and drone attacks. The images, provided by active-duty service members who spoke anonymously because of military media restrictions, show damaged buildings, vehicles and military equipment.
At Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, one photograph shows a Boeing E-3 Sentry with its rear section heavily damaged. The aircraft's tail assembly was torn away from its charred fuselage, while its rotating radar dome was also destroyed. The E-3 Sentry is an airborne early-warning and control aircraft used for airborne surveillance and intelligence collection.
Other photographs from the base show damaged barracks and buildings with collapsed roofs and burned interiors. Concrete T-wall blast barriers can be seen standing near some of the damaged structures.
The photographs also show damage at Camp Buehring and Camp Arifjan in Kuwait. Camp Buehring, a major U.S. Army staging and logistics location northwest of Kuwait City, has images showing damaged barracks, destroyed housing trailers and vehicles. At Camp Arifjan, photographs show visible blast and structural damage to a building.
One deployed U.S. service member told CBS News that the extent of the damage had not been fully communicated to the American public and criticized earlier descriptions of Iranian weapons that reached U.S. bases.
The photographs appeared as the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General released a report covering Operation Epic Fury from February 28 through June 30, 2026. The report estimated up to $3.7 billion in equipment losses, including nearly 60 U.S. aircraft such as MQ-9 Reaper drones, KC-135 Stratotankers and tactical fighter aircraft.
The report also said Iranian strikes damaged or destroyed hundreds of buildings and structures at U.S. bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman and Jordan.
The overall cost of Operation Epic Fury during the period covered by the report was estimated at approximately $33.4 billion. This included $22.3 billion in expended munitions, $3.7 billion in equipment losses and $7.4 billion in other obligations. The estimate did not include the full cost of repairing damaged infrastructure.
Earlier reporting said an Iranian missile and drone attack on Prince Sultan Air Base on or around March 27 damaged the E-3 Sentry and several KC-135 aircraft. More than 10 U.S. service members were reported wounded, including two seriously.
The Pentagon did not respond to a CBS News request for comment on the newly released photographs. The images provide a visual record of damage at the specific Saudi and Kuwaiti sites, while the inspector general's report documents broader U.S. losses across the region.
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