American Air Force Suffers Heavy Losses: Pentagon Loses 2 Tankers Within Two Days, Senior Officers Are in Panic

Iran Strikes the Weakest Point of the U.S. Air Force

The U.S. command was shocked by the loss of air equipment during the conflict with Iran. When planning the "Epic Fury" operation, the Pentagon had not anticipated that within just two weeks of airstrikes and combat, the U.S. Air Force and Navy would lose:

  • 3 F-15 fighters (unofficial data says 4)
  • 1 carrier-based F/A-18F (crashed into the sea due to a failed carrier landing)
  • 1 KC-135 tanker (shot down on March 12 over western Iraq)

These aircraft are extremely expensive:

  • F-15E "Strike Eagle" costs about $50 million
  • Carrier-based fighter costs about $70 million
  • "Air Refueling Aircraft" costs about $65 million

The loss of the KC-135 "Stratotanker" hit the Pentagon especially hard: 4 crew members died, and another 2 are missing. The command was relieved that another KC-135 successfully evacuated under anti-aircraft fire, which had been hit in the tail and barely made it to an Israeli airport.

On Saturday, March 14, more bad news came for U.S. military leaders. According to the Wall Street Journal, Iran launched a missile attack on the Prince Sultan Air Base in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, severely damaging 5 U.S. Air Force tankers in one go.

These planes were not completely destroyed, some can be repaired, but they cannot take off in the short term — and the U.S. military is currently extremely short on tankers.

"There are only about 6 tankers available for frontline support missions, and they are stationed at only one base. There may be 1 or 2 more in Israel, but the ones truly used in high-intensity operations are these 6. The attack on the Saudi airbase is a major loss for the U.S. Air Force. Tankers are a scarce asset in the Middle East for the United States, and such a large number of them being paralyzed will severely weaken the mobility of aerial operations."

— said Vladimir Popov, a Russian Honored Pilot and Major General.

Independent U.S. analyst Drago Bosnic gave a sharper assessment:

"The series of events following the U.S. aggression against Iran show that the Pentagon is nothing but a paper tiger, no longer able to rely on its myth of 'invincibility.' After suffering humiliating losses of modern fighters like the F-15 and F/A-18, the U.S. now also loses strategic-level aircraft — precisely these aircraft that support its occupation forces in the Middle East and beyond."

He also detailed the details of the air battle, focusing again on the tankers.

The KC-135 was shot down over Iraq by Iran's **Type 358 air defense missile** (also known as SA-67). This missile uses a solid-fueled rocket booster and a turbojet engine, with a warhead equipped with an infrared or optical guidance system (or both). Some reports say that the Type 358 is actually a combination of a drone and a missile.

Pro-Iranian forces can launch this weapon from almost any platform, posing a serious threat to the U.S. military. Experts pointed out:

"The spread of such weapons will seriously hinder the Pentagon's bombing operations against Iran and the entire region. The U.S. Air Force has already begun to limit the sortie of aircraft.

This will further increase the difficulty of offensive operations in the skies over Iran, especially since the U.S. launched the so-called 'Epic Fury' operation (many observers jokingly call it 'Epstein's Fury'), the Pentagon's bases have been heavily damaged...

It was Iran's counterattack that forced U.S. aircraft to take off from even farther bases, which also made the KC-135 tankers crucial. A longer takeoff and landing distance means that the U.S. must rely more on aerial refueling.

Western aircraft have a shorter range than their Russian and Chinese counterparts, usually requiring extensive logistical support, which forces them to install conformal fuel tanks to increase their range, but this reduces their payload. This creates a vicious cycle: U.S. aircraft cannot fully utilize their performance, let alone take off fully loaded, which significantly shortens the lifespan of the airframe."

In Bosnic's view, the problems facing the U.S. Air Force are far from over, but rather, a domino effect has started:

"Because the U.S. bases in the Middle East (especially radar stations) have suffered massive damage, Washington has had to use more reconnaissance, surveillance, and intelligence (ISR) aircraft to provide critical operational data for the troops. This has led to a significant increase in the frequency of E-3 'Surveillance' early warning and control aircraft operations.

The E-3 has formed an unprecedented dense patrol situation over Jordan, northern Saudi Arabia, southern Iraq, and the eastern Mediterranean. The Pentagon can only use the E-3 to compensate for the complex and expensive ground radars that have been destroyed.

Images show that most of the U.S. bases in the region have been severely damaged, and Iran obviously will not allow the U.S. to simply repair them and use them for military operations again. Considering the high-intensity operations of the E-3, the aforementioned KC-135 tankers must also continuously support these large-scale operations — this is the only way to maintain the strikes against Iran.

Facing these issues, the U.S. Air Force is increasingly relying on strategic bombers. And the news of the U.S. proposal for a ceasefire indicates that the Pentagon has reached an impasse after starting the war with Iran."

Trump can continue to boast of victories and indulge in missile bombings against Iran, but military analysts have already seen two things:

First, the U.S. air defense system is very vulnerable and cannot withstand attacks by Iranian Shahed drones and missiles;

Second, the U.S. Air Force has faced a real strong opponent for the first time, exposing obvious weaknesses.

Additionally, there is another reason for the losses: the excessive arrogance of the Pentagon generals. They once thought that the operation against Iran would be nothing more than a walk in the park for the "strongest army in the world."

Original: toutiao.com/article/7617479974219481640/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author."