The U.S. Army has used up much of its global stockpile of long-range precision missiles during its five-month war with Iran, according to three people familiar with the data. The weapons are principally the Army’s surface-to-surface ATACMS and newer Precision Strike Missiles (PrSM). Two sources said the U.S. has used “virtually all” of them. Each costs more than $1 million and allows accurate strikes from a safe distance.
One source said the U.S. also burned through a little less than half of its global supply of Tomahawk cruise missiles since the war began. A separate CSIS report estimated that between February and July about 65% of Patriot interceptors were expended and THAAD interceptor stocks fell at least 38%. Two sources said those figures match internal U.S. data.
The White House pushed back, with Trump saying the U.S. has “far more munitions than anyone in the world.” A fourth source said that despite the high usage, Central Command can resupply from stocks around the world.
Source: Reuters
So What
If accurate, this is a significant problem that will not be fixed quickly. Precision munitions take years to build, not weeks. More concerning is that sensitive stockpile data has reached the public at all. This likely becomes a counterintelligence issue. It weakens Trump’s leverage in any negotiation with Iran and hands adversaries like Russia and China a rare read on U.S. capacity and resolve. The resupply claim is possible but unverified.
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