New Delhi, Aug 9 (NVI) The US is running out of its military stockpiles due to the war against Iran, compelling the Trump administration to press the country’s defence industry to accelerate production of weapons.
The number of Patriot interceptors available with the US military fell from 2,330 before the war to 1,030 when the April ceasefire took effect, according to Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
Following recent fighting, the stockpile is now estimated to be between 759 and 827, a decrease of at least 65% since before the conflict began.
The number of THAAD interceptors fell from 452 before the war to between 232 and 262 at the start of the April ceasefire, CSIS said.
The U.S. was able to replenish some of the inventory to between 234 and 278 interceptors. But the stockpile is still at least 38% smaller than it was before the conflict.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell has said in a statement that the US Defence Department was actively focused on boosting munitions acquisitions to provide “the weapons our warfighters need at the pace the threat demands.”
Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg wrote to industry leaders on Wednesday, giving them no more than 21 days to submit plans to “drive significantly faster, more aggressive delivery schedules and/or increased production for critical capabilities,” according to a memo obtained by The Washington Post.
“Years-long development cycles are not acceptable. We must dramatically accelerate our program schedules and expand our production capacity now,” Feinberg wrote.
The memo comes as the latest round of fighting with Iran has exhausted more of the US military’s already diminished stockpiles of advanced missile interceptors, potentially putting American troops at more risk if hostilities resume, according to a new analysis.
Shrunken inventories of Patriot and THAAD interceptors may force the US and its Middle Eastern allies to take more risks to conserve those air defenses, according to the analysis from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington think tank.
For example, it said, American forces may launch fewer missiles against incoming Iranian drones and missiles, raising the chance of one getting through.
President Donald Trump in recent days has dismissed reports of shortage of miiltary hardware, posting on Truth Social on Thursday that the U.S. has “massive amounts.”
He added that “large amounts are being manufactured and shipped to the US as needed.”
On Saturday, Parnell affirmed that Feinberg’s memo seeking a rapid escalation of weapons production is “real,” adding that it “will inform the fiscal year 2028 budget submitted to Congress for funding, and it is entirely consistent with our ongoing push to rebuild the defense industrial base.”
A defense spending bill is currently stalled in Congress, with lawmakers fuming over Trump’s military action against Iran and resisting the White House request to substantially increase Pentagon spending to $1.5 trillion, up from about $900 billion last year. (NVI)
