An Iranian ballistic missile attack on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan damaged multiple U.S. warplanes in Iranian strikes on Jordan's air base on Sept. 8 Eastern Time. One A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft took a severely damaged wing, and about eight F-15E Strike Eagle fighters were lightly damaged but remained serviceable.
The damage was first reported by CBS News. U.S. Central Command did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while U.S. officials said no American personnel were killed. That leaves the base with damaged aircraft, not a reported personnel loss, after the attack on a site where the U.S. has dozens of warplanes operating.
Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan
Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, also known as MSAB, sits near the Jordanian town of Azraq and has been described as a key airpower hub for operations against Iran. Tehran has targeted the facility numerous times since the conflict began in February, and three Army Soldiers were killed in a missile attack on the base in July.
The new strike came on Sept. 8 Eastern Time after the U.S. struck five Iranian tankers. Iran retaliated by lobbing scores of ballistic missiles at the installation, and U.S. and Jordanian forces launched dozens of interceptors against the incoming missiles. The result was damage to aircraft parked on the ground rather than a reported casualty toll inside the base.
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claim
In the hours after the attack, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed it damaged U.S. aircraft at the base. That claim lined up with the damage later reported by CBS News, though the material losses were limited to the A-10 Thunderbolt II and the group of F-15E Strike Eagle fighters rather than the wider fleet at the installation.
The practical question now is how long the damaged aircraft stay out of service. The F-15E fighters are described as serviceable, but the A-10 suffered a severely damaged wing, leaving repair work to determine when the aircraft can return to flight operations at a base that remains a repeat target in the conflict.
