CIREBON NEWS – Iran has destroyed approximately two dozen MQ-9 Reaper drones that the United States (US) relied on in the Epic Fury operation, at the end of February 2026. This is a major blow to the US military which previously underestimated Tehran’s defense.
Iran’s success cost Washington $1 billion, according to a Bloomberg report. The US military has lost up to 30 MQ-9 Reaper drones since the start of the conflict with Iran.
The US consumed a fifth of the MQ-9 Reaper drones from its entire pre-war fleet. This condition is very worrying because US needs are still high, while production has been stopped.
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The MQ-9 Reaper is capable of carrying out reconnaissance and strike missions. One drone is estimated to cost more than $30 million. General Atomics stopped production of this model last year, although other variants are still produced for foreign customers.
In an article on Thursday, Bloomberg, citing anonymous sources, reported that “Iran has destroyed more than two dozen MQ-9 Reaper drones operated by US forces since the war began” in late February.
Although many drones were shot down by Iran’s air defenses, others were lost on the ground due to missile attacks, as well as accidents, according to Bloomberg.
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The US fleet of Reaper fighters has now been reduced to about 135 aircraft, well below the Air Force’s long-established minimum of 189, according to Lt. Gen. David Tabor, the Pentagon’s deputy chief of staff for plans and programs.
Earlier this month, the Congressional Research Service – a non-partisan research arm of the Library of Congress that works with open source materials – issued a report entitled ‘US Aircraft Combat Losses in Operation Epic Fury’.
The document, citing an unspecified “news article,” estimates that the US military has lost 24 MQ-9 Reaper aircraft, plus one MQ-4C.
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This number includes a total of 42 US aircraft, including four F-15E fighter jets, one F-35A fighter jet, one A-10 Thunderbolt II ground attack aircraft, seven KC-135 Stratotanker refueling aircraft, as well as a helicopter.
In an appearance before the defense subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday, Acting Pentagon Comptroller Jules Hurst said that the cost of military operations against Iran had ballooned from a previous estimate of $25 billion to $29 billion due to the cost of repairing and replacing updated equipment, among other factors.
