NBC News said more than 100 U.S. targets across seven countries were attacked by Iran, including Camp Buehring in Kuwait, which was reportedly hit by an F-5.
US military bases in the Persian Gulf region appear to have suffered far more extensive damage from recent Iranian attacks than has been publicly acknowledged. NBC News. While some attacks have been confirmed through official statements or media reports, many of the attacks mentioned in the new report, including an alleged attack by an Iranian F-5 fighter jet, have not previously been acknowledged.
Citing assessments by several U.S. officials, congressional aides and the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), NBC News Describes Iran’s widespread campaign targeting U.S. military infrastructure across multiple countries. These strikes affected critical elements such as operational facilities, logistics hubs, communications and radar systems.
“Early in the war, Iranian F-5 fighter jets bombed the U.S. military base Camp Buehring in Kuwait, a rare breach in which enemy fixed-wing aircraft attacked a U.S. base for the first time in years despite the base having air defenses.
— Michael Weiss (@michaeldweiss) April 25, 2026
The cost of infrastructure repairs could be well over $5 billion, according to the report. These reports cannot be independently verified at this time, and the War Department has not issued any statement denying them.
Strike across 7 countries
According to AEI’s assessment, Iran attacked more than 100 targets at 11 bases in seven countries, including Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia. The attack reportedly hit hangars, warehouses, command buildings, airport infrastructure, communications systems and radar systems, according to AEI and unnamed officials.
The report said the targets also included “dozens of aircraft,” including a destroyed E-3G AWACS at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia and a damaged KC-135 tanker on the ground.
Officials described the damage as “extensive.” Some of the most important reported targets include:
- U.S. Navy Fifth Fleet Command in Bahrain: The headquarters building was severely damaged and other parts of the base also sustained significant damage but are considered repairable.
- Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar: The runway was reportedly destroyed, although many assets were dispersed to other locations prior to the start of Operation Epic Fury.
- Ali Al Salem Air Base, Kuwait: Several hangars and warehouses were attacked.
- Erbil Air Base, Iraq: Munitions storage facility damaged.
- Al Dhafra Air Base, UAE: Fuel depots, hangars, barracks, and clinics were damaged.
Additional attacks affected bases in Jordan and Saudi Arabia, primarily damaging administrative buildings and support infrastructure. This report is consistent with previous reports highlighting damage to radar infrastructure in several locations, suggesting that air defense and surveillance capabilities may have been at least partially degraded during the strike.
F-5 strikes and airspace disputes
One of the most unusual elements of the report immediately caught our eye. It was claimed that Iranian Northrop F-5 fighter jets attacked Camp Buehring in Kuwait. If confirmed, it would be the first time in years that enemy warplanes have directly attacked a U.S. facility protected by multi-layered air defenses.
Originally developed in the 1960s, the F-5 continues to operate in Iran in locally upgraded forms, including variants such as the HESA Saeqeh. Although these aircraft are generally not considered survivable in modern high-threat air defense environments, they still pose challenges because their small size complicates targeting for air defenses.
It is unclear how Iranian warplanes can successfully reach their targets without being detected and stopped. This attack likely took place under very specific conditions, taking advantage of the saturation of air defenses by missile and drone attacks early in the war.
However, the reported F-5 attack cannot be immediately dismissed because it may have occurred along with other similar incidents during the same period. Among these, representative examples include the incident in which Qatar shot down two Iranian Sukhoi Su-24s ‘2 minutes’ away from Al Udeid Air Base and Ras Rafan, and the friendly fire incident in which a U.S. F-15E Strike Eagle was shot down in Kuwait.
Iran claimed, without providing any evidence, that several of its warplanes were used to attack U.S. targets in the early days of Operation Epic Fury. Among the aircraft mentioned by Iranian media was an F-4E Phantom II fighter jet.
The only statement from CENTCOM that mentioned Iranian aircraft participating in combat operations was the statement regarding the friendly fire incident. “A U.S. Air Force fighter jet was mistakenly shot down by Kuwaiti air defenses during actual combat involving attacks by Iranian aircraft, ballistic missiles and drones.”
