How is a depleted Iran damaging so many US bases? A CNN investigation

Unprecedented destruction.A CNN investigation discovering Iran has caused extensive damage to a majority of the U .S.military sites in the region.Precise Iranian missile and drone strikes, aided by sophisticated Chinese technology, hitting some of America's most crucial military assets in the Middle East.The extent of the damage unknown until now, our Tamara Kablawi is out front.

Camp Biring, Kuwait.American soldiers enjoying a karaoke night at one of the biggest U .S.military hubs in the Gulf.That was then.This is now.

A once -bustling American microcity in the desert, nearly empty and heavily damaged after a weeks -long barrage of Iranian missiles and drones.one of many U .S.military facilities in the oil -rich Arabian Peninsula, targeted by Iran even as the U .S.and Israel pummeled the Islamic Republic's large arsenal.

So what impact have Iran's strikes had on America's footprint in the Middle East?A CNN investigation found evidence of unprecedented destruction.We can reveal that strikes damaged at least 16 U .S.installations across eight countries.According to our analysis and sourcing, that's the majority of American military positions in the region.

And some of them are virtually unusable now.A U .S.source familiar with the situation told us that they'd never seen anything like this at American bases, that these were rapid, targeted strikes using advanced technology.Iran's main targets?Multi -million dollar aircraft, like this Boeing E -3 Sentry, which gave the U .

S.a huge amount of visibility over the Gulf.It's out of production, and in today's money, it's worth nearly half a billion dollars.Critical communications equipment.Look at these giant golf balls.They're known as radomes, and they protect satellite dishes vital for data transmission.

In this space alone, Iran destroyed all but one of their satellites.less than a month into the war.And, crucially, radar systems.Highly sophisticated, expensive, difficult to replace, and critical to air defense.A second U .S.

source, this one a congressional aide familiar with damage assessments, described these as the most cost -effective of the targets.Our radar systems, they said, are our most expensive and our most limited resource in the region.

For U .S.allies in the region, there's a dilemma.

In some ways, Iran's show of force makes the U .S.'s presence in the region even more necessary to Gulf security.But there's a new reality here, which is that U .S.military installations, previously seen as formidable fortresses, have turned into sitting targets.As a Saudi source told me, the war has shown Saudi Arabia, that's the U .

S.'s longest -standing Arab ally, that the alliance with the U .S.cannot be exclusive, and it is not, in their words, impregnable.To get a sense of just how vulnerable U .S.facilities have become, have a look at this.

It's the war room at Qatar's Al Udeid Air Base.The theater, command and control hub for U .S.air power across 21 nations.Struck not just once, but twice.And according to a U .

S.source, causing significant damage.The base had been largely evacuated at this point and no casualties were reported.Iran's visibility over its targets has never been clearer.In 2024, according to the Financial Times, Tehran secretly acquired a Chinese satellite, known as the TEE -01B, a massive upgrade from its own satellites.That means that Tehran went from looking at images of this quality to this.

This is the first time America has fought an adversary with satellites that capture high -res imagery almost as detailed as its own.As the scale of the damage comes into focus, many will wonder whether America's presenceonce a protective shield in the Middle East, has turned into its Achilles' heel.Responding to our findings, a Pentagon official said that the Defense Department does not discuss damage assessments, but that U .S.forces remain fully operational with the same readiness and combat effectiveness.

We also understand from our sources that the vast majority of U .S.troops evacuated their positions in the Middle East, with many working from the relative safety of hotels and apartments in the Arabian Peninsula.What stands out to you about all this?

Well, Aaron, you know, what's interesting is that the U .S.intercept rate is likely somewhere in the 95 percent level right now.These look predominantly like drone strikes.That's our assessment.The Shaheeds that did this rather than Iranian ballistic missiles.

But it does show if the intercept rate is somewhere around the 95 % level that 5 % or so are getting through and they are having damage.So the system that the U .S.has in place is not foolproof.It's very good, but it's not foolproof.And I would just say sort of big picture of your shift to the Indo -Pacific with the PLA, the Chinese People's Liberation Army Rocket Force, U .

S.bases across the region.Japan, Philippines and other places are going to be at much more severe danger than what we're seeing now in the Middle East.

Yeah, absolutely.And then when you talk about with the damage done by the drones, right, that the missile interceptor rate may be, you know, exceptional, 5 percent can cause huge damage, but then there's the drones.You have done incredible reporting, you and all of CSIS, on the depletion of U .S.offensive capabilities, missile inventories specifically as well.Trump was asked about that earlier today.

Seth, I wanted to play part of what he said.All over the world we have inventory and we can take that if we need it.But all over the world, we have tremendous amounts of infantry, the best.we're stocked and locked and loaded right now.We have more than double what we had when this started.

More than double what we had when this started and tremendous amounts of inventory.I mean, what do you even make of such comments?Obviously false when it comes to things like tomahawks.But what do you make overall?

Well, I think what's important is that not all missiles are created equal.I mean, one of the advantages the U .S.had over time in Iran was that it had air dominance.It could use short -range missiles like joint direct attack munitions or JDAMs.The problem that the U .

S.has in the Pacific right now is it's going to have to use long -range missiles because the Chinese have such extensive capabilities to hit targets in what we call the first and second island chains, like out to Guam.And there, the U .S.stockpiles of long -range munitions like Tomahawks, like JASMs, like long -range anti -ship missiles, LRASMs.They are in very limited supply right now and the same thing with interceptors.

So what really matters in this discussion is not missiles per se.It's not helpful to talk about missiles in general.It's the missiles you need to deter in specific situations.

Which I think is just so crucial, and what you lay out there is so important.And it's important for Americans to understand all of this and the truth.Obviously, you know, what he said there is, at best, extremely misleading about something so important for national security.He also talked today, Seth, about something about Iran, right?What does Iran really have left, okay?The military.

And he was very specific.

Here he is.We get the radical left to say, we're not winning.We're not winning.They don't have any military left.It's unbelievable.It's actually, you know, It's actually — I believe it's treasonous, OK?

You want to know that it's treasonous?

And he said that Iran is — they've got nothing left.OK, you've looked specifically at that and you found that Iran does still have a lot left.When you look at drones, you look at missile launchers.

Yeah, Erin, I mean, look, there's no question, first of all, that Iran has has its capabilities across the boards are are degraded.the video you showed of U .S.bases, what the extent of the damage in Iran is much more significant than what U .S.bases have received.

Nevertheless, despite that damage, the Iranians have hid stuff underground, so they still have 40 % or so, our assessment, of their drone capabilities left, and then maybe 60 % or so of their missile launchers.So they do still have the capability to fire missiles and drones, and that makes them still a dangerous adversary.And as you just noted in your reporting, they're getting help from the Chinese, and I would add the Russians as well.

All right.Seth Jones, thank you very much.I appreciate it.