According to a new Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments report, federal funding for defense, military operations, and homeland security, and related activities has risen by a total of $843 billion since September 2001 in contrast to what these areas would have received simply due to rising inflation. Of that $843 billion, some $675 billion went to defense accounts. About half the total came through emergency supplementals. CSBA estimates that operations in Iraq have received about $310 billion and in Afghanistan $85 billion.
Less than a day after arriving in the Middle East, F-15E Strike Eagles from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C. defended Israel from an Iranian attack in April 2024. DUDE flight, four F-15Es from the 335th Fighter Squadron, downed two dozen Iranian drones in roughly 45 minutes.