Podcasts · Iran: The Latest

Pentagon admits mass US aircraft losses and base damage from Iran war

· 34 min

Episode Pentagon admits mass US aircraft losses and base damage from Iran war

0:00 34:21

A landmark Pentagon report has exposed the devastating cost of the Iran war for the US military: 59 aircraft damaged or destroyed, bases struck across the Middle East, and critical missile stockpiles depleted for up to 5 years.

On today’s episode of Iran: the Latest, Venetia Rainey speaks to former Defense and State Department insider Kori Schake, now a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. She unpicks how the report lays bare the underpreparedness of Donald Trump’s administration for Iran’s precision missile attacks on key US assets. They also discuss how the toll of the war has created a critical window of vulnerability that China could exploit in the Pacific if it wanted to seize Taiwan.

Plus, Anthropic’s new threat report reveals how Iran and the Houthis are using Claude AI to finetune weapons and target the US Navy, Trump goes behind Saudi Arabia’s back to make a secret deal with the Yemeni militants over the Red Sea, and will Pete Hegseth be impeached?

PIC CREDIT: CBS

Highlights

• Pentagon exposes mass US aircraft losses and base damage from Iran war • Trump makes secret deal with the Houthis over the Red Sea

CONTRIBUTORS:

Venetia Rainey, co-host and executive producer @venetiarainey

Kori Schake, director of Foreign and Defense Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute @KoriSchake

WATCH US ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJnf_DDTfIVAif-vifC6F2aoPB8GIw6dk

CONTENT REFERENCED:

Houthis claim to have shot down Saudi fighter jet

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/09/16/houthis-claim-downing-of-saudi-fighter-jet/

Akhtar Makoii: Four ways the Houthis became a major military power

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/09/17/four-ways-houthis-major-military-power-yemen-iran-weapons/

US committed war crimes in Iran school strike, say UN experts

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2026/09/17/us-committed-war-crimes-iran-school-strike-experts/

CBS: New photos show widespread damage at U.S. positions caused by Iranian missile, drone attacks

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-photos-damage-u-s-kuwait-saudi-arabia-iran-drone-missile-attacks/

LEAD INSPECTOR GENERAL REPORT ON OPERATION EPIC FURY

https://media.defense.gov/2026/Sep/09/2003993626/-1/-1/1/OEF_Q3_JUN2026_FINAL_508%20SECURE.PDF

Anthropic: Detecting and countering misuse of AI - September 2026

https://www-cdn.anthropic.com/e50be2e51e7695dc4b1366a37a245a597377d3b5/Anthropic-Detecting-and-countering-091026.pdf

Winner Best News and Analysis Podcast - Publisher Podcast Awards 2026

Nominated Podcast of the Year - Society of Editors News Podcasts Awards 2026

Nominated Best News, Politics and Current Affairs - British Podcast Awards 2026

The Telegraph, Winner Podcast Publisher of the Year 2026 - Publisher Podcast Awards 2026

Audio Producer: Peter Shevlin

Video Producer: Max Bower

Researcher and Social Producer: Anna Hindmarsh

Studio Operator: Andy Watson

Executive Producer: Venetia Rainey

► Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor

► EMAIL US: Contact the team on battlelines@telegraph.co.uk

► GET THE LATEST HEADLINES: Find all our latest Iran coverage here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/iran-war/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Links in the notes 5

The episode on the publisher’s site

Shows are listed from Apple Podcasts' charts and directory, and Podcast Index where it is used. Every show and episode belongs to its publisher and plays from the publisher's own feed; this site hosts none of them. Explicit shows are for adult profiles only, and children’s profiles hear only children’s shows. More about this list.