Concerns are growing that U.S. and Israeli air defense capabilities could be severely degraded after Iran struck a U.S. Air Force base in Saudi Arabia, damaging an E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) — a core strategic asset.
Iran launched six ballistic missiles and 29 drones at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia on June 27 local time. The attack wounded at least 12 U.S. service members, five of them seriously. Three KC-135 aerial refueling tankers and at least one E-3 Sentry AWACS were also lost.
Russia's alleged role
Claims have emerged that Russia was behind the attack. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an NBC interview on June 28 that "Russia handed Iran satellite images of Prince Sultan Air Base taken days before the attack." He added, "I am 100% confident that Russia has been providing intelligence to help Iran attack U.S. forces."
A summary of a Ukrainian intelligence briefing released by Zelenskyy indicated that Russian satellites photographed the base three times — on March 20, 23, and 25. "The first pass was preparation, the second was a rehearsal, and the third signaled an imminent attack," he claimed.
Iran touts 'cost-effectiveness'
Iran's Fars News Agency reported on June 30 that "a Shahed-136 drone costing $20,000 (approximately 30 million won) per unit destroyed an E-3 Sentry worth hundreds of millions of dollars," calling the strike "a clear example of modern warfare combining intelligence tactics and asymmetric strikes."
Fars News highlighted a 30,000-to-1 price disparity between the two weapons, emphasizing the high cost-effectiveness. It added that the attack delivered "a tactical message that even expensive, advanced systems are vulnerable to cheap and smart attacks" and "a psychological effect that shattered the enemy's confidence in air superiority." However, while Fars News cited the E-3 Sentry's price at $600 million to $700 million, the actual per-unit cost is known to be approximately $300 million (about 450 billion won).
A strategic asset with no replacement
The E-3 Sentry is an airborne command-and-control aircraft capable of detecting enemies hundreds of kilometers away and directing fighter jets. Often called the U.S. military's "eyes and brain," a single aircraft can simultaneously track hundreds of targets.
The bigger problem is that there is no immediate replacement. The Wall Street Journal reported that "only 16 E-3 Sentries were operational at the time of the attack," adding that "the fleet has shrunk significantly from approximately 30 aircraft a decade ago." The estimated per-unit acquisition cost of the E-7 Wedgetail, the most likely successor, reaches $700 million (approximately 1.056 trillion won). Retired Air Force Colonel John Venable warned in the WSJ that "the loss of E-3 Sentries is a direct blow to the U.S. military's ability to maintain situational awareness in the Gulf region."
Weakened detection raises stakes
The U.S. military had been intensifying E-3 Sentry operations since mid-March, focusing on detecting Iranian drones and missiles. The loss of a scarce core asset under these circumstances could raise Iran's attack success rate, analysts say. Military Watch noted that "each time Iran attacks U.S. bases, it simultaneously neutralizes radar systems, steadily increasing the effectiveness of its missile strikes toward Israel."
