An Iranian ballistic missile fired this week reached a U.S.-used air base in Kuwait, destroying at least one MQ-9 Reaper drone, seriously damaging another, and wounding roughly five Americans, all while a ceasefire between Washington and Tehran nominally held, Bloomberg has reported.
Kuwaiti air defenses are said to have intercepted a short-range missile before it hit the base intact. The debris fell anyway. It struck Ali Al Salem air base, causing the casualties and equipment losses, with injuries described as minor among both active duty personnel and contractors.
The wreckage carries a sharp price. Each MQ-9 Reaper costs approximately $30 million, putting the combined value of the two aircraft at roughly $60 million. That figure lands against an attrition picture that has already alarmed Air Force leadership.
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Approximately 30 MQ-9s have been lost during Operation Epic Fury, the Pentagon’s name for the conflict that began Feb. 28. At more than $30 million per airframe, those losses alone represent around $1 billion in destroyed aircraft. The U.S. Air Force MQ-9 fleet has shrunk from roughly 182 aircraft at the end of 2025 to approximately 135 today. An additional 18 were lost in Yemen before the current conflict began.
The drone’s role in the fight makes those numbers harder to absorb. Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach, U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff, called the MQ-9 the “most valuable player” of Operation Epic Fury, saying the aircraft conducted more strikes against Iran than any other platform in the U.S. arsenal.
Lt. Gen. David Tabor told lawmakers the service is now scrambling to rebuild capacity. “We are concerned about how they’ve attrited,” Tabor said. “We’re looking at options to buy back as many of the MQ-9As as we possibly can right now.”
The Kuwait strike arrives at a charged diplomatic moment. A ceasefire has been in place since April, though both sides have continued attacking during that period. Iran has fired more than 1,850 ballistic missiles at regional targets since the war began.
President Donald Trump said in a social media post on Friday that he was ready to make a “final determination” on a preliminary ceasefire agreement. A roughly two-hour meeting in the White House Situation Room the same day ended without any announcement.
The latest Department of Defense casualty report for Operation Epic Fury lists 14 Americans killed and 409 injured since Feb. 28.
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