Despite US President Donald Trump’s claims that Washington is not running out of weapons, an internal assessment of the Defense Department’s stockpile has revealed that the US military has significantly depleted its stockpile of key missiles during the war with Iran.
Citing sources and experts, CNN said the depletion now created a “short-term risk” of running out of weapons if there was a conflict in the next few years.
The US is running out of supplies
Citing an analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the report says that in the last seven weeks of the war with Iran, the US military has used roughly 45% of its stockpile of precision missiles; at least half of its inventory of THAAD missiles, which are used to intercept ballistic missiles, and about 50% of its Patriot air defense interceptor missiles. These figures are said to closely match the Pentagon’s figures on the country’s stockpiles.
In addition, the military has used up roughly 30% of its stockpile of Tomahawk missiles; more than 20% of its joint long-range air-to-surface missiles; and approximately 20% of its SM-3 and SM-6 missiles. According to the analysis, it would take Washington at least four to five years to replace these systems.
While the Pentagon signed a number of contracts earlier this year to increase missile production, experts suggest the lead time for replacing these systems is 3 to 5 years, even with increased capacity.
The US military has enough ammunition to resume war with Iran
However, this does not mean that the country does not have enough to continue operations against Iran, in any event that the ceasefire fails to hold. In the short term, Washington is likely to maintain enough bombs and missiles. However, the number of remaining critical munitions is no longer considered sufficient to confront an almost equal adversary such as China. Furthermore, it will take years for the country to restore its stockpile of these weapons to pre-war levels.
Vulnerability in the Pacific due to depletion of supplies?
Mark Cancian, a former US Marine Corps colonel and one of the authors of the CSIS report, told CNN: “The high spending on munitions has created a window of increased vulnerability in the western Pacific.” He added: “It will take one to four years to replenish these stocks and several years after that to expand them to where they need to be.”
The US military has everything it needs: the Pentagon
According to Pentagon chief spokesman Sean Parnell, the US military has “everything it needs to execute at the time and place of the president’s choosing.” The spokesman emphasized that since Trump took office, Washington has conducted several successful operations across combatant commands while ensuring that the U.S. military maintains a deep arsenal of capabilities to protect our people and our interests.
Trump sought additional funding for the Pentagon
The stockpile analysis is in stark contrast to Trump’s assertion that Washington has enough weapons. However, he requested additional funding for the Pentagon and missiles because of the impact the Iran war was having on existing stockpiles. Referring to his request for additional funding, Trump said last month: “We’re asking for a lot of reasons, even beyond what we’re talking about in Iran,” adding: “Especially munitions, we have a lot at a high level, but we’re keeping it.”
CNN previously reported that before the conflict broke out, General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, along with other military leaders warned the US president that the military campaign could hamper the country’s arms stockpile.
