New photos show widespread damage at U.S. positions caused by Iranian attacks

New photographs exclusively obtained by CBS News expose the extensive damage inflicted on U.S. military installations in the Middle East due to Iranian missile and drone assaults. The images were shared with CBS News by service personnel under the condition of anonymity due to stringent military media restrictions. One sailor stated to CBS News that the repercussions of these attacks were significant and had not been disclosed to the American public.

A photograph from Prince Sultan Air Force Base in Saudi Arabia illustrates a direct hit on a Boeing E-3 Sentry aircraft, with its tail detached from the damaged fuselage that also housed a rotating radar crucial for in-flight intelligence. Additional images from the base reveal buildings and barracks reduced to rubble, with the remaining structures standing adjacent to unscathed T-wall concrete barricades.

These fortifications, historically considered vital against grenade and mortar assaults, proved largely ineffective against the aerial attacks.

Comparable devastations were captured at Camp Buehring in Kuwait, a primary staging ground for U.S. Army ground troops, armored vehicles, and some aircraft. The base is situated in a secluded desert area, far north of Kuwait City. The Defense Department's inspector general recently released a report on the conflict in Iran, disclosing losses totaling up to $3.7 billion in equipment, encompassing nearly 60 aircraft.

The report, for the first time, was sent to Congress, detailing Iranian strikes on U.S. bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman, and Jordan. The Pentagon declined to comment on the matter. A service member emphasized that these attacks were not mere minor skirmishes but rather extensive and devastating assaults, where the military was not capable of defending the affected bases.