Iran War Is Running Out of Weapons

The United States' weapons stockpile has been significantly reduced. If the current rate of US forces attacking Iran continues, this pressure will intensify. Meanwhile, last Friday (July 10), US President Donald Trump said that the ceasefire with Iran is now over.

Experts told US media outlet CNN that this shortage of weapons could seriously weaken the US forces' ability to fight against China or North Korea in the future. "If the war continues as it has been for the past few days, it will shrink the US arsenal so much that a new and major risk will be created in the Indo-Pacific region," said Mark Cancian, a defense analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) think tank and retired Marine Corps Colonel. According to analysts and previous CNN reports, in the early stages of the Iran conflict, U.S. forces used thousands of sophisticated missiles to counter long-range precision strikes and enemy aircraft and missiles.

Michael O'Hanlon, director of foreign policy research at the Brookings Institution think tank, said there was "no doubt" that the arsenal had "fallen below expected levels."

By the time the U.S. and Iran were on the brink of full-scale war in April, the Pentagon had deployed at least half of its THAAD ballistic missile interceptors, nearly half of its Patriot air defense interceptors and about 30 percent of its Tomahawk land-attack missiles, according to a CSIS analysis. CNN confirmed the analysis with three people familiar with the Defense Department's internal weapons inventory.

The United States has seen some relief in its arsenals as the conflict has eased in recent months. But Cancian said the pace of replenishment of major missiles has been very slow. Under the current fiscal year delivery schedule, the Pentagon is receiving only about 15 new Tomahawks and 20 new Patriot missiles per month. There are no THAAD missiles scheduled for delivery until 2026. CSIS estimates that it could take three or more years to restore the weapons stockpile to pre-war levels.