US military losses in Iran war detailed in new CBS report

Exclusive video footage obtained by CBS News reveals Iranian attacks targeting a major US military base in Kuwait at the outbreak of the war with Iran seven months ago.

US forces faced ballistic missiles, drones, and what witnesses described as Iranian F-5 fighter jets.

The videos, recorded by someone stationed at Buehring Base—known as CBKU—document the moments of impact and the aftermath of the explosions, showing damage to buildings and military equipment.

The attacks on Buehring Base highlight the intense pressure Iranian strikes placed on US forces in the early days of the war.

CBS News learned that soldiers defending the base faced a severe shortage of .50 caliber ammunition, while some troops were relocated to the Adairi Desert in Kuwait.

US officials familiar with the situation said two soldiers were struck by lightning there in late April.

US Central Command, which oversees American military operations across the Middle East, declined to comment in response to CBS News inquiries.

The US Department of Defense also declined to comment, referring the network to remarks made by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on March 4 regarding troop withdrawals and defensive measures.

Hegseth told reporters in March: “As we increased our offensive combat power, we moved the vast majority of US forces—over 90% of Americans stationed at our bases—out of harm’s way and beyond the range of Iranian fire.”

Buehring Base, or CBKU, is located about 25 miles from the Iraqi border and has served for more than two decades as a key staging point for US forces deployed across the Middle East.

Footage documents the attacks

CBS News verified the authenticity of the videos using embedded metadata and compared them with other images showing damage to the base.

New footage shows Iranian drones striking the US base.

Before the war began, sources said most of the roughly 7,000 troops at the base were relocated, along with the majority of US forces in Kuwait, as part of the Pentagon’s “out of the danger zone” plan—a term used by the military to describe moving away from vulnerable sites.

Once the war erupted, Iranian attacks repeatedly threatened the base, with some launched from Iraq.

Missiles and drones forced soldiers to shelter in bunkers. Three US service members told CBS News that Iranian F-5 fighter jets were also used in the attacks, a detail first reported by NBC News in April.

One witness described the scene: “They flew so close I could see their helmets. They came at us, struck, then left.”

Although most US personnel were evacuated from Buehring Base, a group of more than 100 soldiers remained on site.

Service members feared the isolated base was ill-equipped to handle a mass casualty event if attacks continued.

A source told CBS News, speaking anonymously due to strict military restrictions: “They hit us hard. It was terrifying. Many brave men stayed to fight, and people back home don’t know what happened. We had to abandon the base.”

A senior US Army logistics officer managing operations from another location in Kuwait confirmed concerns about the availability of .50 caliber ammunition and other “advanced” munitions such as Patriot missile batteries.

Ultimately, the decision was made to withdraw.

Troops gathered their equipment, loaded their vehicles with as much gear as possible, and moved at night deep into the Kuwaiti desert.

Their remote positions later became forward operating bases (FOBs), where soldiers remained for an unspecified period.

No one was killed by enemy fire at Buehring or the FOBs, but several were injured, including two soldiers struck by lightning during sandstorms in the desert.

US officials said one of the two suffered burns from a direct lightning strike, while the other sustained a ruptured eardrum.

Before the lightning incident, commanders had been trying to evacuate troops from the area but could not do so quickly enough.

In May, soldiers left the forward bases for Camp Arifjan, before being relocated to other sites in the Middle East and beyond.

The source added: “CBKU was destroyed. There needs to be an investigation. Why did no one come to reinforce us?”

US losses

Last month, the US Department of Defense inspector general released a report on the war with Iran, revealing equipment losses valued at $3.7 billion, including around 60 aircraft.

The Congressional Research Service, a nonpartisan body providing analysis to lawmakers, reported Monday that 81 fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, including drones, were destroyed or damaged by Iran since February, according to media reports and Pentagon data.

In its first mandatory report to Congress, the inspector general said US Central Command reported Iranian attacks on US bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman, and Jordan.

Despite these attacks being noted in the report, there was very limited photographic or video documentation of the damage sites.

Apart from Buehring, CBS News previously obtained exclusive images of damage to Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia and Camp Arifjan in Kuwait.

The network also published extensive reports on the deadliest attacks on US forces during the war, including the assault at Shuaiba Port that killed six American service members.