US Military Depletes Missile Stockpiles During Iran War

(MENAFN) The US military has burned through a substantial portion of its most critical missile reserves during the ongoing Iran conflict, leaving the nation's arsenal potentially ill-equipped for a simultaneous or future confrontation with a major rival, media reported Tuesday.

A fresh analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) reveals the scale of the depletion: over seven weeks of combat, the US military has expended roughly 45% of its Precision Strike Missiles, at least half of its THAAD interceptors, and nearly 50% of its Patriot air defense missiles. Those figures, the report noted, closely align with classified internal Pentagon estimates.

Additional systems have also taken a significant hit. The military has drawn down approximately 30% of its Tomahawk missile supply, more than 20% of its long-range Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles, and around 20% of both its SM-3 and SM-6 missile inventories.

While the Pentagon has already moved to accelerate production through new contracts signed earlier this year, analysts warn that fully restoring depleted stockpiles will require three to five years — even under expanded manufacturing conditions. In the immediate term, the US is assessed to retain sufficient firepower to sustain operations against Iran should the current fragile ceasefire unravel. The longer-term picture, however, is considerably more concerning.

The CSIS report cautioned that existing inventories are no longer adequate for a high-intensity conflict against a near-peer power such as China, and that returning arsenals to pre-war levels remains a multi-year undertaking.

Mark Cancian, a retired US Marine Corps Colonel and co-author of the CSIS report, put the strategic risk in stark terms.

"The high munitions expenditures have created a window of increased vulnerability in the western Pacific," Cancian told media.

"It will take one to four years to replenish these inventories and several years after that to expand them to where they need to be," he added.

The Pentagon pushed back on any suggestion that operational readiness has been compromised. Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell, in a statement to media, insisted the military remains fully capable.

"has everything it needs to execute at the time and place of the President's choosing," Parnell said.

"Since President (Donald) Trump took office, we have executed multiple successful operations across combatant commands while ensuring the US military possesses a deep arsenal of capabilities to protect our people and our interests," he said.

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