Leaked Photos Show Extensive Damage to U.S. Assets in Middle East by Iran

U.S. Military and Defense Dept. Have Hidden Extent of Damage to Aircraft, Buildings and Vehicles

By Cameron Adams / Daily Beast / Sep. 15 2026 

Bombshell leaked photos have exposed the extent of serious damage to buildings, aircraft and vehicles at U.S. positions in the Middle East after punishing attacks by Iran.

President Donald Trump’s war is now in its seventh month, with no clear timeline for when it might end. The damning photos contradict Trump’s repeated claims that the conflict has been “won” and that Iran’s military has been decimated by the U.S.

The photos, leaked to CBS News by active service members on condition of anonymity, tally with an inspector general’s report released on Monday. In it, the Pentagon watchdog revealed that “hundreds” of buildings used by the U.S. and “dozens” of aircraft had been damaged or destroyed by Iranian attacks.

“This is major damage to our bases that hasn’t been communicated to the American public,” one deployed service member told CBS News. “We’re standing there with our eyes closed getting punched in the face.”

The insider photos include a Boeing E-3 Sentry command and control plane destroyed after Iranian strikes at Prince Sultan Air Force Base in Saudi Arabia on March 27, which people familiar with the matter told Air & Space Forces Magazine about at the time. The plane’s tail has been blown off, wiping out a rotating radar used to collect midair intelligence.

The attack injured over 10 service members, two seriously. At the time, the loss of the E-3 was deemed “incredibly problematic” by Heather Penney, a former F-16 pilot and director of studies and research at AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, who was quoted by the magazine.

The Prince Sultan base is a critical military hub for the U.S. in the Middle East, and has hosted an array of aircraft used in operations against Iran.

Another leaked, undated photo shows more extensive damage at the site after an Iranian strike, with only the shells of buildings left standing.

Three of the leaked photos, all undated, were taken at Camp Buehring in Kuwait, a major U.S. Army staging and logistics post. The photos show flattened and destroyed buildings left in rubble, one structure seemingly still emitting smoke and the remains of a car after a strike.

The IG estimated that the war had cost $33.4 billion as of June 29, including $3.7 billion in equipment losses.

Eighteen U.S. service members have been killed in Trump’s war, a conflict which he dismissed as “small potatoes” earlier this month.

Trump, 80, was asked earlier this month about the latest MAGA narrative, including from Vice President JD Vance, that it is not a war.

“Well, I’ll tell you what, a lot of people don’t call it a war. I call it a military conflict because it’s, it’s small potatoes for us. It’s not a big thing,” Trump said. “We did Venezuela, and we did this.”