Attack on US base – rare special aircraft destroyed?

Special plane destroyed?

This loss would be a severe blow to the US Army

The attack on a US base in Saudi Arabia was probably more serious than previously known. He may have destroyed one of only 16 US special aircraft.

Iran may have managed a significant strike against the US Air Force. In a suspected Iranian attack on the US Prince Sultan base in Saudi Arabia on Friday, a US E-3 Sentry reconnaissance aircraft was reportedly badly damaged. This emerges from several pictures that members of the US Air Force posted on Facebook. If the loss is confirmed, the USA would only be left with 15 examples of the E-3. The US government has not yet commented on the consequences of the attack.

It was previously known that twelve US soldiers were injured in the attack on Friday, two of them seriously. In addition, up to five KC-135 tanker aircraft are said to have been damaged. There were already speculations on Saturday that at least one E-3 Sentry could have been damaged in the attack. This emerged from satellite images that showed thick black smoke over the Prince Sultan Base, exactly where at least one of the reconnaissance aircraft had previously been stationed.

The images now circulating on Facebook seem to confirm the loss of an E-3. The tail number of one of the aircraft can be seen in this picture:

It is still unclear what exactly hit the US planes in Saudi Arabia. The attack is said to have been carried out with rockets and kamikaze drones. Another image clearly shows the blown-off radar that is normally mounted on the E-3’s tail.

The E-3 reconnaissance aircraft are of great importance to the US Air Force. They are used to monitor airspace within a radius of 400 kilometers and coordinate the deployment of all US aircraft involved in air raids. For example, they allow high-tech F-35 fighter jets to turn off their radar during operations and thus remain “invisible” to enemy air defenses.