An Associated Press satellite analysis documents more than 115 successful Iranian strikes against 26 U.S. military bases and installations, destroying American early-warning radars, aircraft, air defenses and logistical infrastructure.

WASHINGTON -- Iran’s strikes on more than two dozen U.S. bases in West Asia focused on early-warning systems before hitting aircraft and buildings, causing billions of dollars in equipment damage, according to an Associated Press analysis.

The AP independently verified damage to American targets using satellite imagery from multiple providers and spoke to four regional officials who were briefed or have firsthand knowledge of what was hit.

The AP found that, through August, more than 115 Iranian drone or missile strikes damaged or destroyed structures on 26 military bases and other sites with U.S. equipment.

The AP found that Iran initially focused its attacks on aircraft hangars and systems that detect incoming strikes, clearing the way for further strikes on warehouses, troop housing and more.

The damage has significantly reshaped the American foothold in West Asia, with two regional officials saying the U.S. has moved many of its assets out of the Persian Gulf. That includes aircraft, air defense systems, communications systems and other equipment crucial to base operations, the AP reported, citing one of those officials.

The impact of the damage raises questions about American defenses in the region as President Donald Trump considers new strikes after Tuesday’s midterm elections and Tehran has vowed major retaliation, the news agency said.

A return to aggression threatens additional costly damage to bases, which would heighten uncertainty about whether the United States will choose to rebuild its bases and equipment in the region when the war ends, it added.

The AP’s analysis offers new insight into Iran’s strategy for its retaliation and what precisely has been damaged on U.S. bases during the eight-month war, going beyond the details that have been released in independent reviews, including from the Pentagon’s inspector general.

It found that from April 1 to June 30, Iranian strikes had damaged and destroyed hundreds of buildings and other structures on U.S. bases.

“Such assessments provide the only overall snapshot because the Trump administration and the U.S. military have provided few details about the toll of the war on people and equipment, even putting measures in place to impede outside review, such as delays in the release of satellite images,” the AP wrote.

U.S. Central Command, which oversees operations in West Asia, has refused to comment on or specify damage to bases or equipment, usually citing the need for operational security. 

Most of the Iranian retaliatory attacks have been in Kuwait, while U.S. sites in Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates also have been targeted, the analysis of satellite imagery shows, according to the AP.

The deadliest known strike on U.S. troops in the Iran war was in Kuwait, where six soldiers were killed in a drone attack at Port Shuaiba on March 1.

Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait was struck at least 30 times, damaging or destroying at least 15 aircraft hangars, numerous warehouses and 10 buildings near a residential area.

Camp Buehring, also in Kuwait, faced even heavier losses. While Iranian attacks made most of its hangars inoperable, gathering places for troops sustained much more damage because the base had limited aircraft. Its gym was destroyed in March and a store for troops to buy products on the base was hit in late July, the news agency said.

A strike also has severely damaged the garage and dining room there, it said. 

American matériel losses were inevitable, said Raphael Cohen, director of the National Security Program at the RAND School of Public Policy. The way wars are fought today makes all militaries “susceptible to large-scale, cheap drone attacks,” he said.

“This should be a wake-up call for the United States,” Cohen said.

Iran launched its response to the war with accurate attacks on systems meant to detect and thwart incoming strikes, then broadened its targets to buildings and equipment that made U.S. bases useful and habitable.

Iran destroyed enclosures protecting U.S. radar systems at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait and Naval Support Activity Bahrain within the first two days of the war’s start in late February. Additionally, Iran hit portable radars at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia and Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan.

Iran prioritized striking at the backbone of the U.S. air defense system, targeting key early-warning radars that are difficult and expensive to repair or replace, said N.R. Jenzen-Jones, director of the technical intelligence consulting firm Armament Research Services.

A radar was hit in Jordan and said to be destroyed. It was one of only 13 possessed by the Army globally, manufacturer Raytheon said. Budget documents show each costs about half a billion dollars.

Another radar in Qatar was damaged significantly, but it is unclear if it was destroyed. Purchased by the Persian Gulf country in a 2013 deal valued at $1.1 billion, it appears to have been the only one in the region.

Hitting such sites was likely “intended to disrupt and degrade the U.S. and allies’ ability to respond to further strikes,” Jenzen-Jones said.

After hitting the radars, Iran launched more than 50 successful strikes on 18 locations with U.S. military equipment in the first month of the war, prioritizing areas with aircraft.

Iran damaged refueling aircraft, communication systems, fuel bunkers and troop accommodations at various bases, the AP said. An Iranian strike on Prince Sultan Air Base in March damaged the back half of a Boeing E-3 Sentry surveillance aircraft and another hit a CIA unit at the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh.

A separate regional military official, who recently visited the Saudi air base, described a severely damaged facility with scattered debris and broken construction materials, the AP reported. He said he saw damaged equipment, including bombed-out barracks and mess halls.

The official said the attack that hit the surveillance plane also damaged several other aircraft, including two aerial refueling tankers. A Congressional Research Service report updated in October said 15 U.S. aircraft had been damaged on regional bases.

Al Dhafra Air Base, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of Abu Dhabi in the UAE, was hit frequently early in the war, the news agency said. Citing an official, it noted damage to infrastructure like aircraft hangars and other installations as well as to equipment such as an early-warning radar system and surveillance drones.

Major providers with U.S. contracts have blocked or delayed public release of satellite imagery at the request of American officials, who sometimes cited it being a national security risk. That has left limited options to visually confirm strike damage until imagery could be obtained from OneAtlas, a satellite provider owned by Airbus.

In the example of Camp Buehring in Kuwait, one of the hardest-hit bases, high-quality imagery from reliable providers was not available until late August. From the halt of imagery in early March to its reemergence in August, more than 30 structures on the base were damaged or destroyed. The AP confirmed that Iran struck Camp Buehring numerous times in March, April, May and July.

Months later, no endgame for the war has been articulated, and more damage could be ahead if the war resumes, which the U.S. and Iran both say is possible, the AP said.

The war could foreshadow a new reality for U.S. forces, it added.

“This is the operating environment that we’re going to face in the future,” said Cohen, the RAND analyst. “The idea that we can rely on fixed infrastructure in the way that we have during the global war on terrorism is over.”