A five-month war with Iran has led to a critical depletion of the US military's missile arsenals. According to three sources from Reuters, Washington has exhausted almost its entire stockpile of high-precision long-range ATACMS and PrSM missiles. The shortage also affects Tomahawk cruise missiles, jeopardizing the US ability to deter other geopolitical adversaries, including Russia and China.
Depletion of Strategic Reserves
ATACMS land-attack cruise missiles and their more modern successors, the PrSM, which are intended to gradually replace older models, are considered critical assets. The cost of each such missile exceeds one million dollars. While sources did not specify the exact number of remaining units, they noted the effective absence of reserves.
Experts link this rapid depletion to the decision by the Donald Trump administration to avoid risky operations using manned aircraft to strike targets in Iran. Instead, the strategy relied on mass missile strikes.
Impact on Global Security
The conflict, initiated jointly with Israel in February, was initially planned to be short-term. However, the prolongation of hostilities has raised concerns that the drop in ammunition levels will limit the Pentagon's capabilities in the event of escalation on other fronts. Specifically, the shortage could affect scenarios involving confrontation with Beijing and Moscow.
The situation is exacerbated in the air defense sector as well. According to estimates by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), from February to July, the US expended about 65% of its Patriot interceptor missiles. THAAD system stocks decreased by at least 38% compared to the start of the war. These figures, sources note, are confirmed by internal US military statistics.
Government Response and Production Plans
In the White House, the official position diverges from intelligence data. Donald Trump stated that the US has "far more ammunition than anyone else in the world" and highlighted record production rates by the defense industry. Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell added that the military has everything necessary to carry out missions anytime and anywhere.
Nevertheless, Raytheon has already reached a preliminary multi-year agreement with the Pentagon to increase production of Tomahawk cruise missiles. According to sources, the US has spent slightly less than half of the world's stock of these ship-launched missiles.
Political Consequences
The military command has warned the president for weeks about the reduction of defense system stocks, including Patriots. However, one US official denied a link between these warnings and the decision not to launch a new large-scale strike on Iran, explaining the pause as pressure from Gulf countries.
Separately, the situation in Ukraine is noteworthy. At the end of July, Donald Trump stated that Washington has not yet decided to grant Kyiv a license to produce Patriot interceptor missiles, which may be linked to the need to replenish its own arsenals.
