(Web Desk) – Democratic Congressman Ed Case claimed during a Senate committee hearing on Tuesday that the United States had lost 39 aircraft since the outbreak of war with Iran on Feb. 28, citing a report published by US defense outlet The War Zone.
Case made the remarks while questioning Pentagon Chief Financial Officer Jay Hurst about the scale of damage suffered by the US military during the conflict.
“We've lost about 39 aircraft, according to a report in The War Zone, and that's an old one that's almost one month old,” Case said during the hearing. He also asked whether the Pentagon had calculated the overall cost of replacing or repairing the aircraft involved.
Responding to the question, Hurst acknowledged there would be significant costs but said the Pentagon was still assessing the extent of the damage.
“There are costs there, sir, but I want to get back to you in writing and what they specifically are, because, as you can imagine, repair of aircraft is something that's very hard to calculate,” Hurst said.
“We want to do a full diagnosis of the aircraft before we estimate that cost,” he added.
The report referenced during the hearing claimed the US Air Force conducted nearly 13,000 flights during the conflict with Iran. It alleged that 39 aircraft were destroyed, while 10 others sustained varying degrees of damage.
The publication also claimed that an F-35A Lightning II fighter jet was struck inside Iranian airspace and that a Boeing E-3 Sentry surveillance aircraft was destroyed.
However, the claims have not been independently verified, and Pentagon officials did not publicly confirm the reported losses during the hearing.
Regional tensions sharply escalated after the United States and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Feb. 28, prompting retaliatory attacks by Tehran against Israel and US allies in the Gulf region, as well as the temporary closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
A ceasefire brokered through Pakistani mediation came into effect on April 8, but negotiations held in Islamabad later failed to secure a permanent settlement. The truce was subsequently extended by US President Donald Trump without a fixed deadline.