Iran Destroys $300M U.S. AWACS Radar Plane on Saudi Base — First Ever Lost in Combat
An Iranian missile strike destroyed a $300 million E-3 Sentry AWACS at Prince Sultan Air Base — the first such aircraft ever lost in combat. Its radar dome was photographed on the ground. At least 10 service members injured. Without it, the U.S. loses vital battlefield awareness.
On March 27, 2026, an Iranian missile strike on Prince Sultan Air Base in Al-Kharj, Saudi Arabia destroyed a U.S. Air Force E-3 Sentry — a $300 million Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft. It was the first time an AWACS has ever been destroyed in combat in the aircraft's 49-year history.
Images spread across social media showing the aircraft's tail broken off and its signature 30-foot radar dome — the rotating disc that sits atop the fuselage — lying on the ground. At least 10 U.S. service members were injured in the strike.
The loss is strategically significant:
- The E-3 Sentry can monitor 120,000 square miles of battlespace from ground to stratosphere
- It tracks aircraft and missiles from hundreds of kilometers away, providing commanders real-time battlefield awareness
- The U.S. operates only 21 E-3s total — each loss represents nearly 5% of the fleet
- Analysts warned the destruction could hamper the ability to spot incoming Iranian threats
- This was the same base where five Air Force refueling planes were hit earlier — the attack Trump wasn't told about because his 2-minute briefing videos didn't include it
The strike demonstrated that despite a month of bombing, Iran retains the capability to hit high-value U.S. assets at bases hundreds of miles from its borders — undermining the administration's claim that the war is "already won" and that Iranian missile capability has been neutralized.