Images geolocated by NBC News showed a command and control E-3 Sentry jet heavily damaged after the Iranian strike that also wounded soldiers.
The destruction by Iran of a warning and control system aircraft on an American base in Saudi Arabia on Friday could affect the U.S. military’s ability to monitor threats — and raises questions around its preparedness for a “longer war,” experts say.
Images verified by NBC News after they surfaced online appear to show much of the back end of the E-3 Sentry jet was destroyed at the Prince Sultan Air Base, the tail lying at an angle on the ground surrounded by debris.
Several American service members were injured in Friday’s strike on the facility, which sits around 80 miles southeast of the kingdom’s capital, Riyadh. At least one aircraft was also damaged in the strike, two U.S. officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity confirmed to NBC News.
Thanks to the streamlined procurement process it will arrive on time in 2027, and then only be delayed another 10 years to allow the budget to balloon by 600% with a full 50% of the systems functioning 30% of the time. The Maintenance requirements will be 250% higher and only cost 75% more. But don’t worry, the mark II version shares 23% of the parts and performs 7% better. At which point, it will almost match the previous capabilities 80% of the time except in the weird fringe category that isn’t tactically relevant anymore.