US servicemen injured in Iranian strike on Kuwaiti base

The incoming missile was reportedly intercepted, but debris destroyed an MQ-9 Reaper drone and seriously damaged another.

Around five US servicemen and contractors suffered minor injuries during a recent Iranian ballistic missile strike on a Kuwaiti air base, Bloomberg reports, citing a source. At least one MQ-9 Reaper drone was reportedly destroyed.

The incident apparently occurred during the latest limited exchange between the US and Iran on Thursday. The US military said it destroyed five Iranian kamikaze drones “that posed a clear threat in and near the Strait of Hormuz” and struck a military site near the port city of Bandar Abbas. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it targeted a US airbase in the region in retaliation.

Bloomberg reported on Saturday that an Iranian Fateh-110 missile was intercepted by Kuwaiti air defenses, but falling debris hit Ali Al Salem Air Base.

The fragments slightly injured around five US personnel and inflicted material damage. One MQ-9 Reaper drone stationed at the base was destroyed and at least one other was seriously damaged, an anonymous person with direct knowledge of the attack told the outlet.

The US-Israeli attack on Iran has taken a heavy toll on America’s MQ-9 Reaper fleet, with around one-fifth of it wiped out.

Earlier this week, Bloomberg reported that the US military has lost up to 30 drones of the type worth nearly $1 billion. The bulk of them are believed to have been destroyed or badly damaged by Iranian fire, with a few lost in accidents and on the ground in long-range strikes on US military installations in the region.

The losses have left a major dent in the US fleet of medium-altitude long-endurance drones used for reconnaissance missions and precision strikes. The number of MQ-9 Reaper drones in the US inventory has fallen well beyond the Air Force’s minimum floor of 189, hovering at around the 135 mark.

The drones will not be easy to replace, as the MQ-9 Reaper’s manufacturer, General Atomics, halted production of the flagship model last year, and only produces variants reserved for foreign customers.