Air Force’s ‘NASCAR pit crews’ forced into overdrive by Iran war

Published June 26, 2026 6:00am ET | Updated June 26, 2026 9:24am ET



The U.S. Air Force‘s maintenance and sustainment efforts will be at full throttle following the war in Iran, where the service had dozens of aircraft damaged or destroyed.

There were at least 42 U.S. aircraft lost or damaged during Operation Epic Fury, a Congressional Research Service report from May revealed. That total has increased since then by at least one after an Army Apache helicopter was downed by an Iranian drone this month and the two pilots were rescued. It also doesn’t include unrelated incidents, like the B-52 Stratofortress that crashed upon takeoff at Edwards Air Force Base in California, killing the crew of eight.

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