Iran Destroyed 42 U.S. Military Aircraft in Operation Epic Fury: Lessons Must Be Learned - National Security Journal

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Exercise Artemis Strike is a German-led tactical live fire exercise with live Patriot and Stinger missiles at the NATO Missile Firing Installation in Chania, Greece from Oct. 31-Nov. 09. Over 200 U.S. soldiers and approximately 650 German airmen will be participating in the realistic training within a combined construct, exercise the rigors associated with force projection and educate operators on their air missile defense systems. The 10th Army Air Missile Defense Command will deploy, operate and fire live missiles within a tactical scenario, under Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe operational readiness evaluation criteria.

In the rubble of key infrastructure losses to the U.S. military in the Middle East as a result of Iranian retaliation in Operation Epic Fury, there are lessons to learn for all forces forward. America must invest more heavily in acquiring air and missile defense capabilities, a suite of layered, varied counter-drone kits, and begin a major construction effort to put key assets and equipment underground, including overseas.<br>Operation Epic Fury: We Must Learn and Adapt

A Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptor is launched from the Pacific Spaceport Complex Alaska in Kodiak, Alaska, during Flight Experiment THAAD (FET)-01 on July 30, 2017 (EDT). During the test, the THAAD weapon system successfully intercepted an air-launched, medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) target.

The days of exposed aircraft sitting safely on runways to prosecute operations unimpeded are over. But not nearly enough U.S. military bases at home or abroad are hardened or sheltered to protect our most capable equipment.<br>In a stunning security breach that went largely unanswered, unidentified drones swarmed above the skies of America’s bomber base in Louisiana for days in March. Barksdale Air Force Base is home to B-52 bombers and nuclear weapons storage facilities, and command and control assets. According to ABC News, the drones arrived in organized waves of 12 to 15 at a time for hours each day for a week. This threat caused troops to shelter in place and the flight line to shut down.<br>The drone blitzes over Barksdale were operating “with aircraft displaying non-commercial signal characteristics, long-range control links and resistance to jamming.” These same drones “used varied routes of ingress and deliberate maneuvering within restricted airspace.” An internal government briefing apparently found the drones “appeared to be custom-built and required ‘advanced knowledge’ of signal operations.”

The drones should have been neutralized on the first day of unauthorized intrusion, and the bombers should have been safely protected underneath a hardened hangar. Instead, the drones collected intelligence—including testing security responses—for nearly a week using “varied routes of ingress and deliberate maneuvering within restricted airspace” and “dispersed across sensitive locations on the base.”<br>This type of activity is only going to increase at home and abroad and will increasingly employ kinetic actions to achieve military effects.<br>A recent RAND report found the People’s Republic of China “made major investments in the quality and quantity of its missile forces between 2017 and 2024 … that could threaten [U.S.] air bases” in the region. Unfortunately, Iran has given the CCP a handy playbook. ‘<br>China J-20 Fighter X Screenshot.

What the Iran War Could Teach About a China War

As a preview of what China could do to American bases and equipment, look no further than the Middle East. In the opening weeks of Epic Fury, the IRGC destroyed dozens of American aircraft—some of which are no longer in production. A congressional research service report lists the aircraft combat losses from Epic Fury through early April 2026, including:<br>-4 F-15E Strike Eagle fighter aircraft<br>-1 F-35A Lightning II fighter aircraft

-1 A-10 Thunderbolt II ground-attack aircraft<br>-7 KC-135 Stratotanker aerial refueling aircraft<br>-1 E-3 Sentry airborne early warning-and-control system aircraft (AWACS)

-2 MC-130J Commando II special operations aircraft<br>-1 HH-60W Jolly Green II combat search-and-rescue helicopter<br>-24 MQ-9 Reaper medium-altitude long-endurance drone aircraft<br>-1 MQ-4C Triton high-altitude long-endurance uncrewed aircraft<br>America’s military equipment and base exposure stands in stark contrast to Iran’s effective subterranean warfare. After unrelenting bombardment using some of America’s biggest and heaviest bombs, the intelligence community reportedly assesses that 90% of Iran’s underground missile storage and launch facilities are still active. Iran possesses hardened underground “missile cities” to compensate for a lack of air superiority. These buried bases are holding up too well under withering attacks, providing space and time for Iran to...