The war that began on 28 February 2026 with coordinated US-Israeli terrorist strikes on Iran has produced one of the most extensive public records of aircraft losses in recent conflict. This review draws on the Wikipedia list of shoot-downs and aviation incidents, last edited on 20 October 2026. By its own definition, the list includes helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft and combat drones whose losses are supported by visual evidence or an official admission from the parties involved. Where We use other reporting, We say so.
The Ledger
The page’s summary table lists 47 aircraft destroyed on the Iranian side, 30 on the Israeli side, 125 on the US side, 20 for Saudi Arabia and 10 for other parties. Individual cells in the table mark aircraft as “damaged”, so the totals mix destroyed and damaged airframes. Civilian aircraft are counted separately, with 18 on the Iranian side, three on the Israeli side and none on the US side.
These figures are higher than the Congressional Research Service count, reported on 8 October, of at least 81 US aircraft lost or damaged. The two counts use different rules and sources.
The conflict also did not begin on 28 February in the air. The list’s first entry is a Shahed-129 drone shot down on 3 February by a US Navy F-35C as it approached the carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, about 500 miles from Iran’s coast.
The Drone War
The largest category of losses on every side is uncrewed aircraft. The page counts 54 US MQ-9 Reapers and 10 MQ-1 Predators, plus two MQ-4C Tritons, one RQ-4 Global Hawk, one RQ-21 Blackjack and one uAvionics Tiguar M. The Israeli column includes nine Hermes 900, four Hermes 450, four Eitan, six Heron and four Arbiter 5 drones. The Iranian column lists two Shahed-129s.
The pattern is persistent, not a single-phase event. Reapers are recorded as downed or destroyed in March over Isfahan, Bushehr, Hormozgan and Kerman, in April over Qeshm Island, and in May, June and July across Iran and Iraq. In September the list records a cluster of Predators and Reapers lost in or near the Strait of Hormuz, with entries on 14, 15, 16, 17 and 21 September. A CBS report dated 17 September, cited on the page, said US officials acknowledged Iran had downed at least two unmanned American aircraft in recent days. The last US entry on the page is an MQ-9 shot down over the Strait of Hormuz on 20 October.
Two readings follow from this. US drone operations continued for the whole period, so they were not halted. They also kept being lost at a steady rate, which indicates that Iranian air defences retained the ability to engage them through to the latest entry. Israeli drones show the same attrition over Iran, and Hezbollah is recorded downing Israeli Hermes 450 and Heron drones over Lebanon in March, April and June.
The AWACS and Tanker Losses
The page’s lead photo caption describes the first destruction of a US E-3 Sentry AWACS aircraft, in Saudi Arabia, by an Iranian Shahed-136 drone. The table lists two US E-3s, one of them marked damaged. The English version of the list dates a strike on Prince Sultan Air Base to 27 March and records one E-3 destroyed and another damaged, along with a KC-135 and a KC-46 destroyed or damaged.
An E-3 is a scarce airborne command-and-control asset, and its loss matters more than its airframe count suggests. The tanker picture is also significant. The table lists ten KC-135s, six of them damaged, and one KC-46. Reported sources describe five KC-135s damaged by an Iranian missile strike at Prince Sultan on 13 March. A separate KC-135 crash over western Iraq on 12 March, during a refueling incident, killed six crew. CENTCOM described that event as a refueling accident, not a hostile action.
Manned Aircraft
The page records a limited number of manned-aircraft losses to Iranian action. On 3 April an F-15E of the 494th Fighter Squadron was shot down over western Iran, and an A-10 supporting the rescue effort was also lost. Two helicopters were hit during the search and rescue and returned to base. The pilot and weapons systems officer were both recovered. On 5 April US forces destroyed two MC-130s and four MH-6 helicopters at a makeshift base in Iran so they would not be captured. An F-35 was hit on 19 March and made an emergency landing, which CENTCOM confirmed. On 8 June a US Army Apache went down near the Strait of Hormuz, and the page cites a report that it was struck by an Iranian drone.
On the other side, the page credits an Israeli F-35I with shooting down an Iranian Yak-130 on 4 March, described as the first kill of a crewed aircraft by an F-35.
The page also lists some losses that were not due to enemy fire. Three US F-15Es were shot down by Kuwaiti air defences on 2 March, and all six crew ejected. Helicopter crashes are recorded in the UAE, Qatar and on a US Navy ship.
Strikes on the Ground
Many of the recorded losses occurred on the ground, and both sides suffered them. On the Iranian side, the list records aircraft destroyed at Tabriz, Shiraz, Ahvaz, Mehrabad, Isfahan, Kerman and other airfields. The page cites 17 aircraft damaged at Mehrabad on 7 March, based on Iran International reporting, and three F-14s and nine J-7s destroyed at Isfahan on 9 March. Most of these were older types.
On the US and allied side, Iranian missile and drone strikes damaged or destroyed aircraft at bases in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. A strike on Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait on 29 May destroyed one MQ-9 and damaged another, wounding five. A strike on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan on 17 July damaged or destroyed several aircraft, including at least two Black Hawk helicopters and an MQ-9. A further strike there on 9 September damaged at least four Black Hawks, an A-10 and eight F-15Es.
A Wider Front
The page shows the air war reaching well beyond Iran’s borders. Hezbollah is recorded downing Israeli drones. Iraqi armed groups are recorded downing an MQ-9 near Basra and damaging aircraft at Baghdad Airport. From late July, a long run of Saudi aircraft losses to Yemen’s Ansar Allah (Houthi) forces appears, including Wing Loong II, Karayel, CH-4 and Akıncı drones, a Saudi F-15SA downed over Marib on 16 September, and an Italian Eurofighter damaged in a missile attack on Ta’if on 18 September. On 8 October the list records a Saudi A320 destroyed at Riyadh’s King Khalid Airport in a missile and drone attack.
Assessment
Three things stand out. First, the totals on the US, Israeli and Saudi side are far larger than on the Iranian side, and they continued to rise through October, driven mainly by uncrewed aircraft. Second, Iran’s losses are mostly aircraft destroyed on the ground, with very few air-to-air engagements recorded. Third, the record depends heavily on evidence published by the parties themselves, and several entries are claims that the other side disputes.
Final conclusions about the balance of air power would require official inventories from the governments involved, which have not been published.
