U.S. military bases in the Middle East suffered at least $800 million (1.2 trillion won) in damage from Iran's attacks, according to reports.
The BBC reported on the 20th (local time) that, based on analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a U.S. think tank, and its own satellite imagery review, it calculated U.S. military infrastructure damage over the two weeks since the armed clashes. According to the analysis, the scale of damage is larger than previously known.
Mark Cancian, a senior adviser at CSIS who wrote the report, said, "The extent of damage to U.S. bases in the Middle East has been underestimated," while adding, "The exact scale will be confirmed when additional information is obtained."
Iran's attacks targeted U.S. bases in neighboring areas including Jordan, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
In particular, the AN/TPY-2 radar, a core component of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system deployed at a Jordanian air base, was hit and suffered major damage, according to the assessment. The radar system costs $485 million (about 730 billion won).
On top of that, damage to base infrastructure such as buildings and facilities was additionally estimated at about $310 million (about 467 billion won).
Iran repeatedly struck at least three locations: Kuwait's Ali Al Salem Air Base, Qatar's Al Udeid Air Base, and Saudi Arabia's Prince Sultan Air Base.
Radar facilities were attacked at Kuwait's Camp Arifjan and Saudi Arabia's Prince Sultan base. Footage confirmed smoke rising from parts of the THAAD defense system.
Some satellite images also showed destroyed radomes, the structures that protect U.S. radar equipment.
In modern military operations, radar and satellite communications equipment serve as the critical "eyes and ears." It appears Iran targeted them intensively from the outset.
THAAD systems were also targeted at U.S. bases in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Jordan, but the exact extent of damage has not been confirmed. However, the United States is known to have redeployed some THAAD systems that had been stationed in Korea to the Middle East.
The damage to U.S. bases from Iran's retaliation accounts for only part of the total cost of the war. The U.S. Department of Defense reported to Congress that in the six days after Iran's air raids, about $11.3 billion (about 17 trillion won) in costs were incurred.
The Department of Defense has additionally requested a $200 billion (about 300 trillion won) war budget. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said, "It costs money to take out bad guys," noting the expense could rise further.