The US military has exhausted nearly 80% of its interceptors for a key missile defense system as senior US military commanders are warning that the Pentagon’s munitions stockpile is “dangerously low,” according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.
Stockpiles of key air defense systems have been particularly depleted during the war with Iran. The US military has burned through nearly four-fifths of its THAAD missile inventory compared to pre-war numbers and roughly half of its Patriot interceptors since the start of the war, according to two sources familiar with the latest inventory report. The disclosure of the low THAAD inventory has not been previously reported.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies estimates the United States had around 2,200 Patriots (of the platform’s two most-modernized variants) and 452 THAAD missiles in its stockpile before the Iran war started.
Gulf allies have also raised fresh concerns about how a shortage of air defense systems could impact their ability to ward off potential Iranian retaliation if President Donald Trump decides to escalate the ongoing conflict.
Several of those countries rely on US air defense systems and have acknowledged the stockpile shortage could hinder their own ability to intercept incoming Iranian missile and drone attacks – particularly if they are targeted in response to any American escalation, multiple officials said.
The stockpile issue was raised again prior to the president’s decision last weekend to cancel new strikes on Iran, marking at least the second time in recent weeks that Trump’s senior military advisers have specifically voiced concerns about the dwindling number of key US munitions during discussions about potentially escalating the conflict with Iran.
The US Army has also used “virtually all” of its highly accurate long-range, surface-to-air weapons during the conflict, according to the source familiar with recent internal Pentagon reports. Reuters first reported the specific concerns about US stockpiles of long-range precision missiles.
Weekend strikes called off
The recent warnings about munitions shortages — coupled with other intelligence presented to Trump about the potential negative effects of striking Iran’s critical infrastructure, including energy-related targets, and concerns voiced by Gulf countries — have been compelling enough to convince some of Trump’s most hawkish advisers there were was reason to call off planned operations over the weekend, the sources said.
Trump on Friday was planning to move forward with massive strikes, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth received the final “go ahead” order on Friday, according to a senior Trump official.
But Trump decided to back off after talking with Middle East allies on Saturday, who told him they were afraid of Iranian retaliation, specifically retaliatory attacks on their energy infrastructure, according to the official. Trump agreed to hear them, and Iran, out. He subsequently told Hegseth to stand down, for now, but is not taking the planned strikes off the table for a future date.
“America’s military is the most powerful in the world and has everything it needs to execute at the time and place of the President’s choosing,” Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement to CNN.
“We have executed multiple successful operations across combatant commands while ensuring the U.S. military possesses a deep arsenal of capabilities to protect our people and our interests,” he added.
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told CNN that the US military “has more than enough munitions, ammo, and stockpiles to serve all of President Trump’s strategic goals and beyond.”
“Operation Epic Fury has exposed what happens when you mess with the United States. Even still, the President has urged our defense contractors to constantly produce more made-in-America weapons, which are the best in the world,” Kelly added.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Dan Caine similarly raised the stockpile issue during another White House meeting late last month where military options for escalating the conflict were discussed, CNN previously reported. The potential for massive civilian casualties inside Iran if the US resumed major combat operations was also raised, another person familiar with the matter said.
But the persistent concerns about stockpile estimates provided to CNN underline the seriousness of the shortages and call into question the US’ ability to carry out strikes against Iran for an extended period.
The stockpile shortage could also impact the American military’s ability to fight a potential future war with China, Russia or even North Korea, experts have told CNN.
‘Tit-for-tat will never end this.’
“The lack of interceptors means that conventional attacks can backfire if the suicide drones start making it through in-masse,” one of the sources familiar with the stockpile concerns said. “Tit-for-tat will never end this.”
The long-range missiles that have been primarily used up during the war with Iran are known as Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) and Precision Strike Missiles (PrSM), the sources noted.
The US’ stockpile of Tomahawk missiles also remains significantly depleted, as close to half of those weapons have been used during the war, one of the sources said.
CNN reported in April that the US military had used nearly 30% of its Tomahawks during the early stages of the war.
On Monday, Trump called Iranian leadership “unbelievably duplicitous” on social media after Tehran contradicted his claim that negotiations would resume.
He later insisted that this is Iran’s “last chance” to sign a deal, but he also said he has no time constraints on negotiations because he’s not seeking reelection.
The early phase of the Iran conflict, dubbed Operation Epic Fury, saw the US military expend thousands of key missiles used for long-range precision strikes and to defend against enemy air and missile attacks, according to analysts and previous CNN reporting.
Replenishment rates are low for key missiles, analysts tell CNN — according to current fiscal year delivery schedules, the Pentagon is receiving roughly 15 new Tomahawks and 20 new Patriot missiles per month. The Center for Strategic and International Studies estimated it would take three or more years to rebuild THAAD inventories to pre-Iran war levels.
The Defense Department has accelerated its efforts to expand interceptor missile production in recent months, including two deals inked this week to boost Patriot and THAAD rocket motor manufacturing, but a spokesperson declined to answer questions about when the expansion will lead to results.
Analysts say it could take years to fully replenish the US stockpile of high-end munitions, like Patriot missiles, due to the lead time for producing those weapons.
Other missile inventories, such as those for the Precision Strike Missile and the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile, will be quicker to rebound and should reach their pre-war level by mid-to-late 2027, according to analysis from the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
CNN’s Davis Winkie contributed reporting.
CORRECTION: This article has been corrected to reflect that Reuters first reported on concerns about US stockpiles of long-range precision rather than strategic missiles./-
