Iran destroys high-value US reconnaissance aircraft - Bloomberg
Photo: E-3 Sentry airborne early warning and control aircraft (x.com/sentdefender)
The US has lost an E-3 Sentry airborne early warning and control aircraft for the first time during the war with Iran. The plane was destroyed in a missile strike on Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, according to Bloomberg.
According to a source familiar with the situation, the $300 million E-3 Sentry suffered critical damage and is now unfit for flight.
Photos of the aircraft that appeared online after the strike show its tail completely torn off.
Pictures show the total loss of 81-0005, an E-3G “Sentry” Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) Aircraft with the U.S. Air Force’s 552nd Air Control Wing based out of Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, following yesterday’s Iranian ballistic missile and drone attack on Prince… pic.twitter.com/NNnILybnrU
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) March 29, 2026
The aircraft in question is an AWACS plane — an airborne early warning and control platform equipped with a radar dome above the fuselage. These aircraft are used to detect threats at long ranges and coordinate the actions of other combat aviation.
Although the US operates more than 60 such planes and can offset the loss, the destruction of the E-3 Sentry is considered a serious blow. Peter Layton, a former Royal Australian Air Force officer and visiting fellow at the Griffith Asia Institute, called the incident significant.
"It’s a big deal," he said. "It highlights that large aircraft are vulnerable on the ground and need active defense. That is hard to do all the time, sometimes it fails."
Since the E-3 Sentry entered service in the late 1970s, the US has lost three others, but all were due to accidents, not combat. This makes the current incident the first known combat loss of this type of aircraft.
So far, during the campaign against Iran, the US has not lost any manned aircraft to enemy fire in the air.
Earlier, Iran struck Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, injuring 12 US service members, two of them seriously. In addition to personnel, equipment was damaged, with at least two KC-135 refueling aircraft reported significantly affected.
