The destruction of a US E-3 Sentry airborne warning and control system (AWACS) aircraft in an Iranian strike on a Saudi Arabian airbase has raised questions over how a critical surveillance asset was left unprotected, and how Iran was able to launch a direct strike on the plane.

The plane was one of 16 operational E-3s, which first went into production in the 1960s and carry sophisticated monitoring equipment that allow them to warn of airborne threats such as missiles, as well as surveil and monitor their assigned battle space including communications, troop and equipment movements and air defence sites.

The attack that destroyed it on 27 March, while it was parked at Prince Sultan airbase, underlined once again the continuing ability of Iran to attack and accurately strike high-value targets in the region despite a month of US and Israeli air raids.

Images from the scene of the attack, which also injured US servicemen and damaged several in-flight refuelling aircraft, show a direct strike on the E-3’s radar dome located near the tail, suggesting a high degree of accuracy.

Ukraine’s president, Volodomyr Zelenskyy, said Ukrainian intelligence had information that a Russian spy satellite photographed the base three times before the attack, on 20 March, 23 March and 25 March.

“We know that if they make images once, they are preparing. If they make images a second time, it’s like a simulation. The third time it means that, in one or two days, they will attack,” Zelenskyy said.

Zelenskyy’s comments follow reports earlier this month that Moscow was providing intelligence to Iran on the location of US forces in the Middle East – a claim denied by Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov.

The E-3 aircraft was one of six that had been reportedly deployed to the Saudi Arabian base.

The ageing aircraft have long suffered from maintenance issues, according to the Air and Space Forces website, which has suggested that in 2024 the US air force’s E-3s had a mission-capable rate of about 56 per cent, meaning a little more than half were able to fly and carry out missions.

The E-3 can track up to 600 targets at a given time over a large area, acting as the eyes and ears for fighter pilots.

“The loss of this E-3 is incredibly problematic, given how crucial these battle managers are to everything from airspace deconfliction, aircraft deconfliction, targeting and providing other lethal effects that the entire force needs for the battle space,” Heather Penney, a former F-16 pilot and director of studies and research at the US Air and Space Forces Association’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, told the publication.

While US and Israeli commanders have claimed a marked decrease in Iran’s ability to fire missiles, experts had anticipated a drop-off in the high intensity of Tehran’s launches from the early weeks of the war, as it changes pace to husband its missiles and other military resources. Iran could also be pushing to extend the timeline of the war to leverage its impact on the global economy.

Some experts say Iran appears to be targeting key enablers of US airpower, including radar systems and support aircraft, as part of a deliberate campaign after initial success by the US and Israel in controlling Iran’s airspace.